EDUCATION
For the best custom hearing protection for teachers, our PACS Pro Series-range is what you need.
Hearing protection for educators
Open plan education, kids chatting excitedly, school bells buzzing, outside play these familiar school sounds present an often overlooked danger for teachers and educators. Prolonged exposure to these can cause hearing loss. In fact, hearing loss among teachers begins at a much younger age than other occupational noise induced hearing loss. Teachers younger than 40 report difficulty hearing more often than other professions. The elevated percentage may suggest that occupational noise from open plan learning, multi purpose spaces and bad acoustics in classrooms etc. increase the likelihood that many teachers will experience noise-induced hearing loss during their career. Noise-induced hearing loss can often be accompanied by tinnitus. Ringing in the ears can make concentrating on hearing and understanding students more challenging.
For who
Specifications
Early childhood educators
School teachers
As teachers need to communicate with students and colleagues all the time, many of them don't think that hearing protection is an option. Luckily there are hearing protectors available that are not only discrete and comfortable to wear but also allow for unobtrusive communication. Most teachers prefer the Pro17 earplugs with a dB reduction of about 17 dB but if less reduction or more reduction in sound is needed there are other options. The Pro10 for example has less reduction in sound for classrooms that are not so loud. Music teachers can also have a look at our Music category which explains in more detail which products are available.
The Pro10 will reduce the overall sound (of up to 95dB) back to a safe level and allows for natural hearing at the same time. Teachers will be able to communicate as they usually do with students while their ears are protected. Fatigue and misunderstanding what is said will be a thing of the past. Starting with hearing protection at an early stage will prevent having to purchase an expensive hearing aid later.
Strong enough to protect, subtle enough to engage
The PRO10 offers highly delicate and level attenuation averaging 10dB, giving the most subtle protection in the whole of the PRO range. Ideal for teachers and educators, the PRO is perfect for environments that are only just edging over safe levels like some class rooms. Offering a natural and transparent sound to the wearer, the PRO10 allows the wearers to stay within the safe limits of exposure while keeping completely engaged with the performance filling the gap between no protection and over protection.
The next generation of filter design
The PRO filter series has been designed anew with the wearer in mind. For starters, it's smaller than many competing filters which means it can fit into smaller ears without any protrusion which is great for both comfort and aesthetics. The filters are also user-swappable so you can chop and change as your environment demands to any other filter in the PRO range giving you complete control over your protection with just a single set of ear moulds. In addition, the PRO series are water resistant so they can be used outside or in high moisture environments and can withstand perspiration without it damaging the filter membrane.
The curse of the occlusion
Trying to create a natural sounding earplug is no mean feat as far as your own voice is concerned because, as you will have experienced, when you block off your ear canal your own voice starts to boom inside your head, this is what we call occlusion. Occlusion is caused by sound that is carried to your ear canal through the cartilage at the side of your head and usually escapes through the open ear canal so is not heard. When we block off the canal this sound cannot escape and so creates that booming effect. A large amount of occlusion can be eliminated by ensuring that the earplug sits deep enough into the ear canal to extend past the cartilage so that the sound hits the plug and is deadened rather than entering the canal at all but the PRO filters go one step further. The PRO series are vented to allow sound to pass both ways which means that remaining sound can escape directly through the filter providing one of the most natural sounding earplugs available.
Tailor made for you
The PRO10 earplug is custom-made using soft medical-grade silicone so you get the very best in isolation and fit, allowing you to wear them for hours at a time without fatigue or discomfort. Each earpiece is manufactured to the highest standards ensuring you get a comfortable, discreet and effective hearing protector that can be fitted quickly, easily and securely every time.Please Note : The PRO10 filter deliberately does not meet the minimum attenuation of 12dB above 1KHz that is required by the EN352-2 standard, it is therefore not tested or certificated under this standard.
If you are unsure what product to buy or need further product information before making your purchase, please contact Pacific Ears at info@pacificears.com.
We will be happy to help.
Teachers are exposed to loud noise levels on a daily basis. Sound level measurements have shown that sounds inside school gymnasiums can exceed 90dB. Choir, music, band and manual arts classrooms have also been found to exceed safe listening levels. Music teachers, physical education teachers and coaches are especially vulnerable to loss because much of their time is spent in these noisy environments.
Over half of the teachers that reported difficulty hearing admit to asking students and colleagues to repeat, misunderstanding what is said, and feeling stressed and fatigued during extended periods of listening.
A custom made hearing protector will prevent hearing loss and tinnitus.
The Pro17 will reduce the overall sound (up till 100dB) back to a safe level and allows for natural hearing at the same time. Teachers will be able to communicate as they usually do with students while their ears are protected. Because the Pro17 has a very flat attenuation everything will sound natural just a bit softer. Fatigue and misunderstanding what is said will be a thing of the past. Starting with hearing protection at an early stage will prevent having to purchase an expensive hearing aid later.
A revolution in custom hearing protection
The PRO17 is the flattest response filter in the PRO range. Designed specifically for musicians and vocal performers who require a perfect flat attenuation, which makes these protectors also excellent for teachers and educators who need protection but need to communicate with students and colleagues clearly as well. The PRO17 gives one of the most accurate responses of any hearing protector with flat 17dB protection across the board. Keeping all frequencies in check relative to one another means you get to hear the surrounding sound just as it should sound – but 17dB quieter with no loss of high or low frequencies. Not only does the PRO17 provide a balanced reproduction but its vented design reduces occlusion, giving your voice a more natural sound making the hearing protector more transparent so you can concentrate on your performance.
A sterling performance across the board
The PRO17 has one of the flattest responses of any hearing protector worldwide, offering an accurate representation for anyone that requires complete fidelity from their earplugs. With an average attenuation of 17dB, the PRO17 is perfect for teachers and educators as they are able to extend your safe listening time by more than 5 times. The PRO17 keeps all the clarity of the surrounding sound by attenuating evenly throughout the frequency spectrum so you can listen and perform hearing everything you usually would but at a lower, safer level.
The next generation filter design
The PRO filter series has been designed anew with the wearer in mind. For starters, it's smaller than many competing filters, meaning that it can fit into smaller ears without any protrusion – which is great for both comfort and aesthetics. The filters are also user-swappable so you can chop and change as your environment demands to any other filter in the PRO range, giving you complete control over your protection with just a single set of earmoulds. In addition, the PRO series are water resistant so they can be used outside or in high moisture environments and can withstand perspiration without it damaging the filter membrane.
The curse of the occlusion effect
Trying to create a natural sounding earplug is no mean feat as far as your own voice is concerned because, as you may have experienced, when you block off your ear canal your own voice starts to boom inside your head (this is what we call occlusion). This is caused by sound that is carried to your ear canal through the cartilage at the side of your head, which usually escapes through the open ear canal so is not heard. When we block off the canal this sound cannot escape and so creates that booming effect. A large amount of occlusion can be eliminated by ensuring that the earplug sits deep enough into the ear canal to extend past the cartilage. This ensures that the sound hits the plug and is deadened rather than entering the canal at all. The PRO filters go one step further by being vented to allow sound to pass both ways, meaning that remaining sound can escape directly through the filter providing one of the most natural sounding earplugs available.
Tailor made for you
The PRO17 earplug is custom-made using soft medical-grade silicone so you get the very best in isolation and fit, allowing you to wear them for hours at a time without fatigue or discomfort. Each earpiece is manufactured to the highest standards ensuring you get a comfortable, discreet and effective hearing protector that can be fitted quickly, easily and securely every time.
PRO17 earplugs and filters have been tested and certified to EN352-2: The European Standard for earplug hearing protectors.
If you are unsure what product to buy or need further product information before making your purchase, please contact Pacific Ears at info@pacificears.com.
We will be happy to help.