HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
It is our mission to make a positive contribution to the health of our employees. As part of this effort, we use personalized hearing protection for employees in areas with high and potentially harmful exposure to noise.
UN goal
Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages
Implementation at BLG
We actively support our employees to stay healthy, with a focus on prevention. Where this is not enough, we offer individual options for reintegration into the workplace.
Logistics is often far from a quiet activity – some colleagues working on the dockside are particularly exposed to noise impacts. Up to now, they have been using standard tried-and-tested disposable earplugs for protection, but these have the disadvantage that they are not customizable and also have to be thrown away after each use. To offer better protection against risks such as hearing impairment or even hearing loss, we have been testing personalized hearing protectors at BLG AutoTerminal Bremerhaven.
Customized hearing protectors were tested by 20 railcar preparers. The hearing protectors differ depending on the activity, noise level, wearing habits and communication needs of the employees and are custom-made by a safety technician using a special method. This involves making silicone casts of the outer ear and subsequently producing the customized otoplastic earmolds. An integrated noise filter also takes the personal needs and wishes of the wearer into account. We accompanied the subsequent test phase with a survey.
The feedback from the participants was consistently positive. Dennis Hake, a colleague from the Operation Shoreside area, reports: “I’m delighted with the new ear protectors and wouldn’t want to work without them anymore. The impression of the ear canal means it’s an excellent fit and even allows me to converse normally with colleagues where ambient noise levels are low.” Thanks to the custom fit, the devices are comfortable and can be worn without problems for the complete shift and are even approved for road use. In contrast to the single-use earplugs, the new ear protectors can be used for several years and are therefore far more sustainable. On the back of the positive outcome of the test, all 120 shoreside railcar preparers are being fitted with the hearing protectors and an extension to employees in other areas of activity is being examined.
