(1) You must make sure employees wear hearing protectors that will provide sufficient protection when exposure equals or exceeds:

(a) 85 dBA TWA8 (noise dosimetry, providing an average exposure over an eight-hour time period);

(b) 115 dBA (slow response sound level meter, identifying short-term noise exposures);

(c) 140 dBC (fast response sound level meter, identifying almost instantaneous noise exposures).

(2) You must provide employees with an appropriate selection of hearing protectors:

(a) The selection must include at least two distinct types (such as molded earplugs, foam earplugs, custom-molded earplugs, earcaps, or earmuffs) for each exposed employee and must be sufficient to cover:

(i) Different levels of hearing protection needed in order to reduce all employee exposures to a level below 85 dBA TWA8;

(ii) Different sizes;

(iii) Different working conditions.

(b) Consider requests of the employees regarding:

(i) Physical comfort;

(ii) Environmental conditions;

(iii) Medical needs;

(iv) Communication requirements.

(3) You must provide hearing protection at no cost to employees.

(4) You must supervise employees to make sure that hearing protection is used correctly.

(5) You must make sure hearing protectors are:

(a) Properly chosen for fit;

(b) Replaced as necessary.

(6) You must make sure all hearing protection is sufficient to reduce the employee's equivalent eight-hour noise exposure to 85 dBA or less. When using the A-weighted exposure measurements, reported as "dBA TWA8," the reduction in noise exposure by hearing protectors is given by Table 2:

(7) In addition to protection based on daily noise dose, make sure hearing protection has an NRR of at least 20 dB when exposures involve noise that equals or exceeds 115 dBA (slow response sound level meter) or 140 dBC (fast response sound level meter).