Hemi-anechoic chamber

The result of a significant investment by the company to extend its hearing protection testing service, SATRA has unveiled its new hemi-anechoic chamber. The news comes as 3M signs up as the first customer for acoustic testing, with SATRA and 3M donating the £3,000 test fee to the charity Action on Hearing Loss.

The new chamber is isolated from outside noise and provides the conditions needed to test hearing protectors to strict European standards - a service that is in demand but not widely available.

In Britain alone HSE figures show that around 17,000 people already suffer work-related hearing loss, ringing in the ears or other ear conditions. It is not surprising then that employers are placing increasing importance on providing the right hearing protection, with demand for a wider range and better performing hearing protectors from manufacturers higher than ever.

The new hearing protection test facility will help manufacturers place professionally tested and certified hearing protection products on the market quickly.

SATRA has also increased its team of acoustic specialists, who can advise on all aspects of hearing protection testing, including technical and legislative issues.

Thanks to the hemi-anechoic chamber, SATRA is now able to test all types of ear-muffs, earplugs and safety helmet-mounted hearing protection to the BS EN 352 series of standards.

As well as acoustic testing, SATRA also tests the product's physical properties - weight, construction, sizing, adjustability, cup rotation, headband force and flexing, cushion pressure etc.