Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper White Paper by Plantronics Published Date: February 2017
Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper 2 ACOUSTIC SAFETY 101: A TECHNICAL GUIDE FOR EVERYONE An overview of the Plantronics role in shaping global acoustic safety standards and building products to meet them. by Allen Woo I. Introduction: Sorting through a world of regulations Like many aspects of the working world, a significant number of regulations govern the type and amount of noise we are exposed to.
Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper 3 The reference effective pressure is a threshold of hearing. It is the RMS (root mean square) sound pressure of the lowest audible sound of a 1,000 Hz tone, at 20*10-6 Pascal. As the equation shows, doubling the pressure, meaning two times P, increases 6 dBSPL. Figure 1 shows the decibel levels of some common sounds.
Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper 4 IN EUROPEAN UNION: THE NOISE AT WORK DIRECTIVE The EU’s Noise at Work Directive establishes its rules for protecting hearing in the workplace. It addresses two sources of noise-induced hearing damage: acoustic shock and excessive noise exposure throughout a working day. • • Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper Draft #4 Protection against acoustic shock from peak sound pressure: The Directive sets limits to three levels, summarized in Table 1.
Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper 5 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN US AND EU REGULATIONS Table 1 summarizes the differences between the US OSHA and EU Noise at Work regulations.
Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper 6 INTERPRETING INDUSTRY STANDARDS FOR HEADSET USE Telecom industry standards interpret “open field” regulatory requirements for headset use. The best-known standards are ITU-T P.360, UL 60950-1 and ETSI EG 202 518. These industry standards define the test methods and noise limit requirements as they relate to US and EU regulations.
Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper 7 INTERPRETING NOISE REGULATIONS INTO HEADSET LIMITS The human ear amplifies certain sounds more than others, making us more sensitive to hearing the human voice. So, for a particular sound, a measurement in the “open field” is very different than a measurement inside of a human ear, at DRP. The difference is called Head Related Transfer Function, or HRTF 6 .
Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper 8 III. Plantronics technology for acoustic safety Since the company’s founding in 1961, Plantronics has been a strong leader, participant and supporter of various global industry standards, particularly those pertaining to acoustic safety. For example, Plantronics has: • Led and drafted ITU-T P.
Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper 9 One example of Plantronics headsets protected with SoundGuard technology is EncorePro HW720, shown at left. For the full list of Plantronics headsets featuring SoundGuard technology, see the product sheet at the end of this paper. SoundGuard Plus features multistage limiting technology.
Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper 10 One example of Plantronics products feature SoundGuard Plus is VistaTM M22 as shown at left. For the full list of Plantronics products featuring SoundGuard Plus technology, see the product sheet at the end of this paper. SoundGuard Digital’s sophisticated algorithms provide additional acoustic protection above and beyond the impulse and long duration disturbance protection that Sound Guard and SoundGuard Plus provide.
Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper 11 IV. Summary The acoustic safety regulations implemented by the US, EU and other countries all aim to protect workers from noise exposure despite subtle yet important differences in their definitions. These regulations are designed to address “open field” noise, which is distinctly different from sound that is emitted on or in the ear by headsets.
Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper 12 V. About the author After earning a Master of Science degree from the University of Utah, Allen Woo joined Plantronics as an Acoustic Engineer in 1990 and later became a Principal Engineer in 2000. Through the years, he has led and served on many industry standard committees worldwide, drafting and maintaining standards to protect users’ acoustic health as well as high performance of headset products.
Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper 13 About Plantronics Plantronics is a global leader in audio communications for businesses and consumers. We have pioneered new trends in audio technology, creating innovative products that allow people to simply communicate. From unified communication to Bluetooth® headsets to gaming solutions, we deliver uncompromising quality, an ideal experience, and extraordinary service.
Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper 14 SoundGuard Acoustic Safety and Listening Comfort H/HW/D Contact Center Headset Series Quick Disconnect and USB corded SoundGuard Plus ≤ 118 dBA @ ERP ≤ 106 dB @ ERP TWA/Daily Noise Exposure ≤ 80 or 85 dBA per user choice • • • 1 2 USB Corded • • Voyager Bluetooth Mono Premium Series • • Explorer Bluetooth Mono Mid-tier Series • M Bluetooth Mono Entry-level Series • BlackWire C3xx/C5xx/C7xx Series M12/M22/P10/E10/DA55/DA60 Corded audio proce
Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper 15 SoundGuard Acoustic Safety and Listening Comfort ≤ 118 dBA @ ERP CS510/CS520/W410/W420/ W710/W720 Series DECT Wireless system CS500/CS530/CS540/W430/ W440/W730/W740 Series DECT Wireless system BackBeat Pro Series Bluetooth Stereo Immersive BackBeat FIT Series Bluetooth Stereo Active BackBeat GO Series Bluetooth Stereo Discreet BackBeat 100 Series Bluetooth Stereo Entry level RIG 4VR/400/500/600/800 Series Gaming headsets SoundGuard Plus ≤ 106 dB @ ERP
