User Guide

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Plantronics Acoustic Safety White Paper
Draft #4
Plantronics Acoustic Safety
White Paper
©2017 Plantronics, Inc. All rights reserved. 2.17 6826
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN US AND EU REGULATIONS
Table 1 summarizes the differences between the US OSHA and EU Noise at Work regulations.
There are two measurement differences between the US and EU requirements:
• Trading relation. By which reducing the duration of the daily noise exposure allows an increase
in the exposure limit. In other words, reducing the exposure limit allows an increase in the
exposure duration. The trading relation in the US is 5 dB and in EU is 3 dB. For instance:
– In the US, the action level is 85 dBA for eight hours, which is equivalent to 80 dBA for
16 hours or 90 dBA for four hours.
– In the EU, the upper action value is 85 dBA for eight hours, which is equivalent to
82 dBA for 16 hours or 88 dBA for four hours.
• Threshold of measurement. In the US, only the continuous, intermittent and impulsive noise
levels equal or higher than 80 dBA are integrated into the TWA calculation, but in the EU,
there is no threshold. All noises with any levels are integrated into the daily noise exposure
calculation.
Separately and together, the acoustic safety regulations outlined by the US, EU, as well as other
countries and regions present a significant obligation for many types of employers. However,
these regulations are based on so-called “open-field” noise
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in workplaces such as factories,
construction sites and other inherently loud locations. No government regulations specifically
address sound that is emitted on or in the ear by headsets. The section below discusses how
acoustic safety regulations can be interpreted by employers to protect workers who wear
headsets on a daily or occasional basis.
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For more information, refer to ITU-T P.360, “Efficiency of devices for preventing the occurrence of excessive acoustic
pressure by telephone receivers and assessment of daily noise exposure of telephone users.”
REGULATION US OSHA EU NOISE AT WORK DIRECTIVE
Impulse noise/peak
sound pressure
140 dB 140 dB exposure limit
137 dB upper action value
135 dB lower action value
CONTINUOUS NOISE 115 dBA NONE
TWA/daily noise exposure 90 dBA exposure limit
85 dBA upper action
value
87 dBA exposure limit
85 dBA upper action value
80 dBA lower action value
Table 1: Comparing US and EU regulations
Note 1: Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF) published a recommendation guide, G616, intended to reduce
acoustic startle from headset. It requires headset receive output to be <102 dBSPL at DRP. All Plantronics products with
SoundGuard Digital comply with G616, see the Plantronics product sheet on page 14 and 15 for detail.
Note 2: IEC 62368-1 and EN 50332 specify acoustic safety requirement for personal music player (PMP). It requires
headphone or multimedia headset recieve output to be ≤100 dBA with 150 mV input for analog or -10 dBFS input for
digital. All Plantronics multimedia products comply with PMP acoustic safety requirement, see the Plantronics product
sheet on page 14 and 15 for detail.