Cutting Through the Noise

Mines and smelters are some of the most challenging work environments in Canada, and mining companies have striven to ensure they are also some of the safest. In their efforts to continuously improve on-site safety, they have also looked to their supply partners to bring new technology and ideas to the table. 3M is one of the partners that continues to deliver to this vision.

“3M has teams working with mining customers are all over the world,” reports Ian Gillespie, 3M Canada Mining & Mineral Extraction Market Manager, “not just in Canada. As a result, we get a more complete picture of the issues facing mining – and can respond with appropriate solutions.”

Minesites and smelters are increasingly noisy workplaces, requiring exceptional hearing protection for workers. At the same time, those workers need to communicate clearly with each other to do their jobs. How to reconcile these two seemingly contradictory needs?

“3M offers a number of innovative solutions that combine hearing protection with communication,” Gillespie reports. “And we have the experts to help determine the right choice.”

Frank Walsh is 3M Canada’s Marketing Operations Manager, Occupational Health & Environmental Services Division, responsible for the Peltor Communications offering.

“The Peltor line integrates with your existing communications infrastructure – different brands of radio, cell phone – it doesn’t matter. We concern ourselves with making sure your employees can hear what they need to hear, and protecting them from potentially damaging noise.”

There are a variety of solutions, depending on the customer’s situation and requirements. “It’s all about customization,” explains Communications Specialist Gwen MacDonald. “There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ – you have to tailor the system to the intended use and situational requirements.”

Some customers only need their employees to be able to hear radio transmissions, but not to reply. “We have Listen-only devices,” MacDonald advises, “so you’re not paying for a microphone that you don’t intend to use.”

In other cases, workers’ hearing protectors must also allow for and even amplify ambient sounds, such as conversation, machine noises, and warning signals. “We’ve got that covered, too,” says MacDonald. “Our Tactical Systems provide hearing protection, radio communication, and the ability to hear local sound, all in one unit. In the event of a noise pulse, the ambient sound is blocked, ensuring the user isn’t exposed to unsafe noise levels.”

3M continues to expand its product line to accommodate new technologies. A Blutetooth-enabled headset is available for customers who are using cell phones for communication rather than radios – an increasingly attractive option for smelters and mills, and new mines that are taking wi-fi communications infrastructure underground.

Another 3M introduction addresses a problem that has plagued miners for years. “One of the biggest challenges,” MacDonald relates, “has always been: how do we get clear communication when an employee is wearing a respirator? Typically, speech gets garbled, and even throat microphones produce inferior quality sound under those circumstances. We knew there had to be a better way.”

And now there is. 3M recently introduced the new Ora-Tac system, which transmits sound from the wearer’s ear canal – so it is unaffected by a respirator. A tactical function mode using talk-through microphones allows the wearer to hear ambient noise.

 “But the key to it all,” says Walsh, “is getting the users to understand the value of their hearing, and that damage is irreversible. We encourage all our customers to participate in the 3M ‘Hearing Conservation Program’. When workers take ownership of their hearing protection, everybody wins.”

For More Information about 3M please visit: www.3m.ca