Workers know passive ear defenders protect them. They remove them anyway.
In noisy industrial environments, workers take their hearing protection off to speak to colleagues, because it is currently the only way to have a conversation. They take it off because eight hours of complete acoustic isolation makes the working day unbearable. Once it comes off, it often does not go back on. The result is sustained exposure to damaging noise levels for the hours that follow.
Vard Industrial is developing a certified industrial ear defender built around that reality. It is a safety device first: EN 352 certified, with UWB proximity detection for forklifts and vehicles, dB-triggered ambient passthrough for alarms and warnings, and a real-time status light visible across the floor. Workers can also listen to their own audio during their shift, which means they have a reason to keep it on. The compliance is built into the product rather than enforced from outside.
Proximity detection
UWB sensing detects approaching forklifts and vehicles. Audio reduces as a vehicle gets closer and cuts completely at close range, with ambient passthrough activated
Ambient passthrough
Microphones continuously monitor the environment and pass through alarms, shouts, and hazard sounds at a safe level
Status light
LED through translucent cup — green, amber, red — visible across the floor without approaching each worker
Push-to-talk
Gesture-activated short-range mesh comms — hand over cup to transmit, glove-compatible
Zone-based audio
Personal audio is permitted only in zones the facility manager designates as safe. Workers follow safe routes because that is where their audio works. Compliance becomes the path of least resistance
Manager broadcast
Targeted voice announcements to individual headsets or teams via companion app
The evidence base
74%
of workers remove hearing protection specifically to communicate with colleagues
40%
of workers who should be protected receive no effective protection at all, even when it is provided
95%
of employers had never tested whether warning signals were audible through hearing protection
The HSE has named occupational noise an enforcement priority alongside asbestos and falls from height. Enforcement actions increased by 300% during the campaign. Safety managers who previously considered their hearing protection programme adequate are now facing active inspections.
Jansen et al., Frontiers in Audiology and Otology, 2026 · HSE RR720, 2009 · HSE targeted noise inspection campaign, 2024-25.
We are currently speaking with facilities, safety professionals, and potential partners ahead of prototype development. If you work in industrial safety, occupational health, or connected worker technology, we would like to hear from you.