We see it just about every day; heck, we even see it with safety people… not properly rolling, lifting, inserting, and holding their hearing protection as they insert them. But noise is a “chronic” hazard and thus far too many workplaces fail to respect it. Unfortunately, in the vast majority of projects, we have completed for clients, engineering controls was by far the best option. Even from a cost standpoint, the passive engineering option would have paid for itself within 5 years as it would have reduced the exposure(s) to below 80-dBA, which means no more HCP training, annual audiograms for hundreds of workers, no need for HPs, etc. Some validation monitoring ensures the passive engineering control maintains exposures below the OSHA Action Limit of 85-dBA. But, that passive engineering control will cost thousands of dollars, and there is no budget for it. So what do most businesses do? The old game of using PPE (horribly, I might add) to control a chronic hazard that no one cares about (by the time the consequences arrive, we’ll all be gone approach!). So using noise exposure, let’s discuss the Hierarchy of Controls and how they logically play a role in controlling a recognized, yet unrealized, hazard in the workplace.