Comments on the combination of equipment for eye/face protection with hearing protection

A combination of equipment for eye/face protection and hearing protection may significantly reduce the sound attenuation properties of ear muffs, for example owing to thick goggle sidepieces. Measurements conducted by the IFA revealed that thick goggle sidepieces reduced the sound damping attenuation by up to 14 dB. In other words, the exposure to sound pressure was up to 25 times higher (DGUV Regel 112-194 (to date: BGR/GUV-R 194) governing the use of hearing protectors, January 2015, Section 3.2.1.6 at www.dguv.de/fb-psa, in German).