QP100Ex
April 2012
1
Agenda
• Introduction/background
• QP100Ex – Product Overview
• Dosimetry vs. PSEM
• Experiences - VOC
• Summary
2
Introduction / Background
3
Company Background
• Nacre AS was established as a spin-off company
from SINTEF (the largest research organization in
Norway) in year 2000.
• 50% of R&D are former SINTEF employees or researchers.
• Ongoing research project with Statoil and SINTEF – main
focus is reduction of NIHL in the O&G industry.
• Nacre was acquired by Sperian Protection in 2007.
• Sperian was acquired by Honeywell (~130.000
employees) in 2010, which has now become the
largest supplier of PPE worldwide.
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Background
• QUIETPRO was launched in 2005 to the military
market – approx 63 000 units sold to date globally.
• Moved our focus over to the industrial market the
past three years.
• QP100Ex is developed in cooperation with Statoil.
• QUIETPRO Industrial (QPi) is used on all helidecks
on Statoil’s installations in the North Sea with very
positive feedback.
• QP100Ex is our second generation product and is
specially adapted to the O&G industry.
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Some of the current challenges:
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Which ear is protected?
0 dB
7
<5 dB
33 dB
Decibel scale
• The decibel scale is a logarithmic scale, not linear:
8
If the sound energy doubles
83 dB
the sound level increases with 3 dB
86 dB
A small increase of decibel level
89 dB
represents an enormous increase
in sound energy and danger
92 dB
Noise induced hearing loss is the most common
permanent and preventable occupational injury in
the world.
~ WHO (World Health Organization)
9
QP100Ex
Product Introduction
10
QP100Ex
QP100Ex is an ATEX certified intelligent hearing
protection and communication system with voicefeedback menu system and integrated function for
Personal Sound Exposure Monitoring.
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Advantages
• An alarm is activated if sufficient attenuation has
not been achieved upon start up.
• Ensures situational awareness and communication
in noisy environments.
• Ensures continuous personal sound exposure
monitoring and alarms the user if permissible
exposure limit is close or reached.
• “In-ear solution” will not conflict with other types of
PPE, such as glasses, helmets, etc.
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Functionality
 Outer microphone: picks up surrounding
sound which is presented to the ear within
safe noise levels.
 Inner microphone: picks up the voice
from the user through the ear drum,
which is processed by the control unit
and sent via radio to the receiver.
 Speaker: presents an optimal mix of
surrounding sound and radio
communication within safe sound levels
to the ear, as well as processing ANR.
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Protection
• Automatic protection of sounds
above 83/85 dBA. In quiet
surroundings it is like not
wearing any hearing protection.
Level
• Attenuation of impulse sounds
to non-harmful levels ensures
situational awareness at all
times.
Level
• Surrounding sound may be
increased or decreased when
needed, always within a safe
level.
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Time
ANR (Active Noise Reduction)
Attenuation:
• Unprotected ear (red)
• Passive attenuation
(yellow)
• Passive and active
attenuation (green)
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QP100Ex
Charging connector
o Li-Ion battery only
PTT button
Menu
o Enter menu system
o Cycle through menu
system
Volume buttons
Port 1 (one canal)
o 12 pins
Headset port
o 16 pins
Confirm
o On/Off
o Menu function
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QP100Ex LEDs
• Indicator Lights
• Yellow pulsating:
- Fit check underway
• Double Green pulse:
- Action completed
- Confirmation of menu
selection
• Continuous Green
- During keying of
radio
LED – Light Emiting Diodes
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• Red pulsating:
- Fit check failed
- Dose exceeding permitted
exposure level
• Continuous Red:
- Battery very low
- Auto shutdown
- Hardware error
QUIETPRO Headset
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Dosimetry
vs.
Personal Sound Exposure
Monitoring (PSEM)
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What is Dosimetry?
• Dosimetry based on European regulations:
- Represents a measure of energy: LEq = Sound effect x time
- The total energy exposure over time.
- A work shift of 8 or 12 hours provides the same measure of
energy (EU).
 85dBA/8h
 83dBA/12h
(Statoil works with 80dBA/12h)
• 3dBA increase = double energy  half the exposure time
• When the permissible exposure limit is reached it is advisable
to have a long period of rest (>8 hrs) in a quiet environment.
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Traditional Dosimetry
• How is traditional dosimetry measured?
- The surrounding sound is measured.
- The attenuation of the hearing protection is estimated.
- A theoretical dosimetry is then calculated.
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Traditional Dosimetry Testing
Preventive activities are done AFTER a hearing
damage is detected.
How long time does it take before a hearing impaired employee
receives training?
“Best case scenario” per “Hearing Conservation Amendment”
• Retest
• Audiometric test
0
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2
4
6
8
10
Months
12
14
• Notification
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QUIETPRO Sound Measurement
• How does QUIETPRO measure sound exposure?
- Measure the sound energy behind the ear tip inside the ear
canal.
- No uncertainty when measuring attenuation.
- Patent pending method (”the gliding window”)
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LED Indicators ACTION
• Will be determined by the customers hearing
programs.
• Potential actions on illumination of Red light and
alarm sounding.
- Stop working in the noisy environment and find work in a
quiet location.
- Report the incident to the supervisor
Dose < 50%
50% < Dose < 95%
Potential to reconfigure these ’trigger’ levels
for customer programs.
95% < Dose
Dose exceeding 100%:
• Voice message x 2
• Wobble tone – acknowledge required (same
approach as for ”poor fit” warning)
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Using QUIETPRO PSEM
• To ‘reset’ or not ‘reset’ ………..?
1.QUIETPRO product is personal
- System is retain and always used by the same
Keep your hands
off its mine!
worker
- QUIETPRO will calculate sound exposure
considering the previous 16 hour period.
 Data download not required
 Daily ‘manual’ reset no required
 Control Unit can be switched off and PSEM still works
2.QUIETPRO product is shared with others
- PSEM needs to be ‘Reset’ at the beginning of
the shift to avoid the ”remains” of the previous
workers exposure.
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It is good to share!
Field Data Example
Worker on helideck on oil rig
Blue:
noise in
ear canal
Red:
external
noise
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Field Data Example
Blue:
noise in
ear canal
Red:
external
noise
5dB gain
Caused by
increased hear
through volume
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Field Data Example
Incoming radio
Blue:
noise in
ear canal
Red:
external
noise
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Field Data Example
Blue:
noise in
ear canal
≈15dB
Red:
external
noise
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Field Data Example
Blue:
noise in
ear canal
Red:
external
noise
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≈ 30dB
Field Data Example
Blue:
noise in
ear canal
Red:
external
noise
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≈ 80dBA
Field Data Example
Blue:
noise in ear
canal
Black:
accumulated
noise dose
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Experience /
Voice of Customer
34
Experiences
35
•
Tested QP100Ex with Motorola GP340Ex in
machine rooms, on helidecks and compressor
area on different installations in the North Sea –
pilot version.
•
Useful experiences for optimization of our
product – now in the final validation phase prior
to commercial launch.
•
Ongoing research project with Statoil where
100 units are being tested on two platforms research data are gathered over several years.
Voice of Customer
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•
Extremely good attenuation
•
User friendly menu system
•
The users get a personal understanding of their own
protection – feel confident that their ears are being
protected
•
Management get access to a useful HSE tool that
have never been previously available – gives new
possibilities
•
Training and motivation is key!
Future Developments
• Continuous feedback from customers affect further
optimization and product development
• Helideck functionality
• Organization of cables
• Computer program for download of PSEM data
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Summary
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Challenges
• NIHL is the most common occupational injury in the
world but also the most preventable.
• Ear muffs may get affected by the use of other types
of PPE, such as helmets, glasses etc.
• Radio communication may lead to hearing damage.
• Little understanding of the consequences of not
wearing hearing protection correctly.
• Difficult to control the actual exposure level of
workers – preventable activities start when hearing
damage is detected.
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QP100Ex
• Automatic fit check at start up guarantees
approximately 20 dB attenuation.
• QP100Ex provides clear communication in different
high noise environments.
• QP100Ex ensures situational awareness at all times.
• Training is essential in order to get the best out of
our system – level of attenuation and
communication quality.
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QP100Ex
• Ensures continuous sound exposure monitoring
and files data up to 16 days.
• Immediate alarm and voice feedback when the user
is close to or has reached the permissible exposure
limit.
• Provides the ability to start immediate effective
measures to avoid NIHL.
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Last but not least…
NIHL is 100% permanent.
But it’s also 100% preventable.
Take good care of your hearing!
You depend on it!
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