Hearing protection for office & home office

Protect your hearing from office noise

Earplugs in the open-plan office are a good solution to block out external disturbances quickly, easily and effectively. You can work concentrated and stress-free in the office again.

Our topics overview

• Why should you wear hearing protection in the office?
• What health problems can be caused by office noise?
• When should you wear hearing protection in the office?
• Which hearing protection is suitable for office work?
• How does hearing protection against office noise work?
• Where can I buy hearing protection against office noise?
• How much do hearing protectors cost for working in an office?

Why should you wear hearing protection in the office?

Everyday office work requires concentration: demanding tasks often have to be completed promptly or even under time pressure. Noise sources can become a problem. By wearing suitable hearing protection in the office, the ability to concentrate, which is disturbed by the acoustic nuisance, can often be significantly improved or even completely regained.

What health complaints can be caused by office noise?

Long-term acoustic stress can lead to permanent stress and even headaches. Office noise therefore also reduces performance and concentration. But also tension, aggressiveness or tiredness and dejection can be health effects of noise. It can also lead to increased absences due to illness and a generally tense working atmosphere. The stress caused by constant acoustic stress thus also has an effect on the mutual cooperation. In order to increase well-being in the office and prevent health problems caused by office noise, hearing protection is therefore recommended. This provides optimum protection against noise situations in the office.

When should you wear hearing protection in the office?

Especially larger construction sites where work is carried out over a longer period of time can become a problem for your own concentration. This is particularly true if construction or renovation work is carried out in the immediate vicinity of the workplace or in the same building. Here, too, hearing protection can help to improve your concentration when working in noisy environments. Overall, it rarely remains quiet when, for example, in an open-plan office, many people are working together in a confined space. Conversations between colleagues, telephone calls and working office equipment such as printers or photocopiers can develop a considerable noise level together. From a sound pressure level of 85 decibels upwards, the wearing of hearing protection is mandatory according to the occupational health and safety guidelines, but even below this threshold, noise can have a long-term negative effect on health. According to the Workplace Ordinance, a noise level of 55 decibels should therefore not be exceeded in offices. This corresponds roughly to the volume of a normal conversation. In a small office space, a guideline value of 35 decibels is envisaged. As an example: a normal laser printer already generates a noise level of around 50 decibels.

Which hearing protection is suitable for office work?

Earplugs in an open-plan office are a suitable way of quickly, easily and effectively blocking out external disturbances. They are also very simple and hardly noticeable. Anatomically custom-made earplugs, however, often offer the best wearing comfort as well as optimised acoustic insulation of one's own hearing against the disturbing noise sources. Custom-made earplugs are therefore ideal for use in the office.

How does hearing protection against office noise work?

An anatomically customised hearing protection made of suitable, soft material often provides the most pleasant and convincing experience in long-term use. Thanks to the special manufacturing process, it fits perfectly into the wearer's ear canal. With a suitable filter, the working environment is ideally not completely faded out acoustically, but only reduced in volume. In this way, the noise caused by colleagues becomes a tolerable background noise and the most natural sound experience possible is retained. This can help, for example, to ensure that superiors or colleagues approaching your desk are also acoustically aware in good time and can respond to your requests. In such a case, it is usually rather irritating if there is no reaction to initial communication attempts due to the faded out ambient noise. When choosing the right earplugs at the workplace, the main concern should therefore be to create a pleasant working atmosphere for yourself on the one hand, but also to remain receptive to the words spoken by colleagues on the other. A suitable attenuation behaviour, which on the one hand significantly reduces the perceived volume of the environment, but on the other hand does not change the sound, is therefore usually useful for hearing protection in the office.

Where can I buy hearing protection against office noise?

You can find hearing protection solutions for the office from various manufacturers and brands. Our wide range includes different types of earplugs and custom-made earmoulds.

Leading manufacturers and brands of hearing protection for the office:

• Ohropax
• Crescendo
• Loop
• Otifleks

What does hearing protection for office work cost?

The cost of hearing protection for office work can vary depending on the type of hearing protection and manufacturer. Usually earplugs are slightly cheaper and are available in our shop from around 5 euros. Custom-made hearing protection, on the other hand, is a little more expensive, but with the right care they last a long time and offer the best wearing comfort.

Our tips on how you can additionally reduce noise at the workplace

• Define communication rules in the office (use of mobile phones, personal arrangements etc.)
• Move especially longer or private conversations to other rooms
• Aim for an aligned office furnishing for less noise development
• Define periods without telephone calls