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Company has hearing woes covered
By MARGARET HOPKINS
RESEARCH PARK--With two sets of steel doors and walls 18 inches thick, the vault could double as a bomb shelter.
But this one defends against noise.
Kevin Michael, president of Michael & Associates, uses the 6-ton vault for measuring how well ear plugs and ear muffs protect against noise. An independent lab located in the Penn State Research Park, Michael & Associates contracts with manufacturers of hearing protection devices to provide that test data.
Those manufacturers span the globe from the U.S., Chile, Sweden, Finland and Japan.
"We use 10 human subjects, and we test their hearing with and without hearing protection in place," said Michael who primarily hires university students for the testing.
Test results are then turned into ratings, so industry workers can see first hand how well a device reduces noise levels.
Government agencies estimate about 30 million U.S. workers are exposed to hazardous noise on-the-job.
That's an average noise level of 95 decibels calculated during an eight-hour day, Michael said.
A protective device can cut those exposures to a safe level.
Measuring noise levels in the work environment is tough. Noise levels vary depending upon distance from the source. Furthermore, people's sensitivity to noise also differs.
"You can sit two people with the same protection next to the same machine, and one will have hearing loss and the other won't," said Michael, who estimated that about 15 percent of people continously exposed to noise measured at 90 decibels will suffer hearing loss.
Just wearing ear plugs or ear muffs doesn't guarantee against hearing loss, Michael said.
That's why he's developed an earplug-fit testing device for checking whether protective devices are worn properly.
That new product is part of Michael's strategy for growing the company. With a limited number of hearing device manufacturers requiring test services, growth has to come from new product development, he said.
Michael has also spun out doseBusters, a company with a technology that monitors noise levels for individual workers while helping to ensure they wear protection.
Interest in hearing protection is a Michael-family affair. Kevin's father, Paul Michael, started Paul Michael & Associates in the 1980s. Like Michael & Associates, that company perfomed independent testing of protection devices. "My dad did the bulk of testing in the U.S. until I took over," Michael said.
Michael's Pennsylvania roots--he grew up in State College and earned a doctorate at Penn State--also serve him well.
Pennsylvania has more underground and surface mines thatn any other state. Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio account for 20 percent of all mines in the U.S.
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The noise level experienced from the front row of a rock concert might measure 130 decibels, Michael added.
