Navy News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Navy Times

Head-pinching cranials may get the heave-ho

For the first time in decades, flight deck fashion is getting an upgrade. Next year, those sweat-laden, head-pinching cranials that aviation sailors have worn for two generations could be heading for the scrap heap. In their place will be a new, safer cranial that should fit you better and be easier to keep clean and maintain.

Plus, the fleet has already begun replacing old-school Mickey Mouse headphones with foam-lined, gel-filled headphones. And starting in September, foam earplugs will give way to custom-made earplugs, while earplugs for sailors in engineering are also in the works.

It’s all part of a Navy plan to reduce hearing loss among its aviation sailors, from flight deck to flight line. The goal is a fivefold reduction in noise exposure, which would bring hearing protection up to federal guidelines for civilian workers, spare the hearing of thousands of sailors and save millions of dollars in future disability payments.

When used properly, today’s foam earplugs and headphones provide about 30 decibels of reduction — the difference between a jet engine at 100 feet and a power saw at three feet — a significant reduction, but still far below standards set for civilian workers by the federal government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. And Naval Air Systems Command spokesman Jimmy Evans said only 7 percent of users insert the earplugs correctly, meaning most people don’t get the maximum amount of protection, albeit limited, from the old system.

“If they are not in right, they are not getting the hearing protection that they think they are getting,” he said.

In contrast, the new custom-fitted earplugs are much easier to use properly, won’t slip out of the ear canal as foamies can do, and will provide as much as 28 decibels of protection. When combined with new foam-lined, gel-filled headphones, sailors and Marines can get 43 decibels of protection. Active noise reduction and a new noise-reducing cranial should improve that protection to the Navy goal of 50 decibels.

The new earplugs — made of plastic polymer linked by a rubber string — will be resistant to sweat, sea water and hydraulic fluid; can be washed with soap and water; and will cost as much as $200 per pair.

The ubiquitous foamies that now protect the hearing of sailors and Marines cost 16 cents per pair.

The new earplugs will begin showing up in September. That’s when more than 65,000 sailors and Marines serving on carrier flight decks, on amphibs, in shore-based aviation units, and in the aviation departments of surface warships will begin the first of two appointments — one to take a mold of each ear, and a second several weeks later, when they are issued the earplugs and shown how to wear them properly.

The earplugs are being produced by Blacksburg, Va.-based Adaptive Technolgies Inc., but NavAir spokesman Rob Koon said other contractors could produce similar earplugs for the command in future years.

NavAir spokesman Martin Ahmad said he expects the Navy to be purchasing as many as 1,000 sets of earplugs per month by next year.

Some sailors already have been issued headphones with a gel-filled liner and foam inside that increases hearing protection. If need be, the headphones can be altered to cancel outside noise by emitting noise of their own.

And next fall, sailors and Marines will trade their cranials for new helmets that could further reduce their noise exposure, offer increased head protection, and be compatible with night-vision equipment and nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare gear.

Navy officials have narrowed their cranial choice to two companies: Adaptive Technologies Inc., which has designed a prototype helmet that sits above the sailor’s ears; and New Hampshire-based Creare Inc., which is working on a prototype football-style helmet that covers the wearer’s entire head.

Creare’s model provides additional hearing protection because sound waves cannot reach the skull, which conducts waves into the ears even when they are plugged, NavAir officials said. Both helmets meet OSHA head protection standards; the current cranials do not. Evans said sailors who work in less noise-intensive environments might be equipped with the smaller, bicycle-style cranial because they would need less hearing protection.

Although aviation sailors will get their custom earplugs first, the Navy hasn’t forgotten about sailors in engine rooms and other noisy spaces below decks.

Naval Sea Systems Command has a pilot ear-protection program of its own, officials said. Program workers plan to do noise evaluations on all types of ships in the fleet to determine which spaces warrant custom ear protection, although there weren’t details as of Aug. 1 on how many engine room sailors would be affected or when they could get the new earplugs.

As part of NavSea’s pilot program, ear protection researcher Kurt Yankaskas measured the ears of all 80 people in the blue and gold crews of the littoral combat ship Freedom. The impressions were sent to a manufacturer, and the Freedom’s crew members likely will get their earplugs sometime in September, Yankaskas said.

The results of the test with the Freedom’s crews will help NavSea make decisions in its next steps in rolling out custom earplugs.

A growing problem

Hearing loss — which often shows up years or decades after exposure to loud noise — has been a persistent and growing problem. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 840,000 veterans have a service-connected disability for hearing loss or for ringing in the ears, making hearing disorders the largest category of service-connected disabilities paid by VA.

VA spokesman Jim Benson said the department does not break down claims by service, but according to the Naval Safety Center, hearing-related disability payments to former sailors almost doubled from $65 million in 1999 to $108 million in 2004.

NavAir officials are unable to say how many of the hearing-impaired Navy veterans had served in the aviation community, but they say the relentless din of jet engines generators, and mechanical equipment in aviation departments — and hearing protection equipment that dates back to the Korean War, when jet and propeller engines were far less noisy — have led to an epidemic of hearing loss among veterans.

“Over a long period of time, people have known there is a problem out there,” Ahmad said. “It’s very noisy, and people’s ears are being damaged. For a long time, they have known this is an issue. But operationally, it’s hard to do anything about it because you have to man the aircraft, you have to repair the aircraft, and you have to launch the aircraft.”

Navy officials say the F-35 Lightning II is the first Navy strike aircraft in which designers sought to limit noise to protect sailors, but engineers were limited in what they could do, officials said, without compromising engine power.

“Well, what do you want,” Evans said engineers had asked about the F-35. “Do you want thrust, or do you want to protect ears? Thrust equals noise, and thrust is what propels us.”