Bluetooth-enabled hearing protection

Communicating safely in noisy or dangerous environments is often challenging but MSA seems to have come up with a solution. MSA’s Bluetooth-enabled hearing protection makes it possible for foremen and co-workers to communicate safely in such unfavourable environments.

Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances with fixed and mobile devices. A Bluetooth product contains a small computer chip with a Bluetooth radio and software.

When two Bluetooth devices want to speak to each other, they first need to be paired up. One common application is to stream voice or music from a phone or tablet to a wireless audio headset or hands-free connection in a car.

Until now, connected items have been part of our daily personal life but, this trend is now entering the world of PPE.

Active hearing protection allows workers to communicate so long as they are within “ears reach” and noise levels are not too high. Here MSA´s CutOff technology allows for awareness of surrounding sounds, as the sound is reproduced inside the ear muff with an adjustable gain.

However, people working alone while operating noisy equipment, such as underground mineworkers, also need to remain connected in order to receive incoming communications from a team-mate or foreman.

Connected hearing protection such as MSA´s new Left/Right Wireless World (WW) technology meets this particular need. With its integrated Bluetooth function, the hearing protection can be paired to any compatible mobile phone or Bluetooth radio.

Incoming calls can be received while working in noisy environments, while staying protected, and maintaining a safe sound level inside the ear muff. For optimal performance, highly-efficient microphone filters eliminate surrounding noise for the caller.

Two product configurations are available, namely Left/Right WW with Bluetooth and auxiliary input socket and Left/Right WW Dual with CutOff environmental sound function and a built-in FM radio tuner.

The Left/Right WW products are available as a headband version or helmet-mounted version, with enclosed adapters to fit various helmet models.