PPE specialist uvex is urging employers to look beyond simply supplying hearing protection as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launches a new noise and vibration campaign encouraging businesses to act before permanent damage occurs.
The campaign promotes a simple three-step approach — Assess. Control. Protect. — to help employers prevent hearing loss, tinnitus and vibration-related ill health.
Around 15,000 workers experience hearing problems caused or made worse by workplace noise each year, while an estimated one in five may face harmful noise levels. Damage may already be irreversible when symptoms appear.
HSE Principal Specialist Inspector Chris Steel said: “Employers shouldn’t wait for symptoms to appear. They need to identify where workers are at risk, reduce exposure and make sure the right controls are in place.”
Assess. Control. Protect.
HSE’s campaign encourages employers to assess noise and vibration risks and reduce exposure at source through quieter or lower-vibration equipment, maintenance, engineering controls and safer ways of working.
Where noise risks remain, employers should provide suitable hearing protection, health surveillance where required, and information, instruction and training.
For uvex, this reinforces hearing protection as an ongoing programme, with appropriate product selection, fitting instruction and checks that protection works in practice.
Inspection findings highlight gaps
HSE’s noise inspection campaign findings published in September 2025 showed that one in four workplaces had noise levels requiring mandatory hearing protection. In those workplaces:
- More than 75% of employees lacked essential knowledge about storing hearing protection, checking it for damage or reporting faults.
- 63% hadn’t been told to wear it continuously during exposure.
- 80% had no instruction on wearing it correctly or making it work with other PPE.
- 95% of employers hadn’t checked whether workers could still hear alarms and warning signals.
Chris Steel described the gaps as “serious”, warning that workers may believe they are protected when they are not.
Why supplying PPE doesn’t mean compliance
It’s also important to remember that hearing protection is classified as Category III PPE because harmful noise can cause irreversible damage to health. Employers must ensure it is appropriately selected, correctly fitted and maintained, with training to support proper use. Simply issuing earplugs with the right SNR isn’t enough.
“Too many employers still treat hearing protection as a box-ticking exercise. Buy some earplugs, put them in a dispenser, job done,” said Tom Coleing, UK Head of Product Management at uvex. “HSE’s findings show that isn’t compliance. Protection has to be in good condition, worn whenever it’s needed, fitted properly and matched to the actual noise.”
Checking the protection achieved by each wearer helps employers put this into practice. The uvex xact-fit system enables users to measure the protection they personally receive, helping identify when further fit training or a different product is needed.
Overprotection: a hidden hazard
Excessive attenuation can hinder communication, mask alarms and encourage workers to remove their protection.
An earplug’s SNR alone does not confirm the protection each wearer receives. Ear canal shape, product size and fitting technique all affect performance. Individual fit testing — using systems such as uvex xact-fit — provides a personal attenuation rating, helping identify where further training or a different product is needed. Results also help workers understand correct fitting and support ongoing reviews alongside hearing health surveillance.
“Too often, well-intentioned decisions lead to excessive attenuation,” says Coleing. “Reducing sound levels at the ear below 70 dB(A) can make communication and safety signals harder to hear, creating additional risks.”
Supporting prevention in practice
HSE’s CUFF principles — Condition, Use, Fit the ear and Fit for purpose — provide a practical framework for checking that protection is maintained, worn correctly and matched to workplace noise, supporting the new campaign’s wider prevention message.
Inspection and replacement schedules, compatibility with other PPE, hands-on fitting instruction and guidance on attenuation all support this approach. Examples include uvex’s on-site Fit Clinics and Academy resources.
Where communication matters, electronic earmuffs such as uvex aXess one use Real Active Listening (RAL) technology to help wearers hear speech and warning signals while limiting the active listening output.
“The aim is to balance effective protection with awareness,” Coleing adds. “Workers need protection suited to both the noise and the task.”
