Clear Work fitted 20 Promac sawmill workers in Duncan with custom-moulded hearing protection.
Promac is a sawmill on Vancouver Island. A mill is one of the loudest working environments in the province, and hearing protection is not optional there.
Foam plugs only protect if they seal, and an uncomfortable plug comes out the moment the supervisor turns away. Where noise cannot practicably be reduced to or below the exposure limits, section 7.7 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation requires hearing protection meeting CSA Standard Z94.2-02, maintained to that standard and "worn effectively" in noise hazard areas.
A mill is not uniformly loud: the saws, the yard and the planer differ. And most providers are Lower Mainland based, while a crew of 20 is not getting on a ferry for ear impressions.
In September 2026, licensed audiologist Shruti travelled to the Promac sawmill and took each worker's impressions herself, checking each one before it left the building.
Each worker's ear canals were assessed and impressed, and moulds were made for each worker by the manufacturing laboratory. Class A or Class B was specified by their area of the mill.
Custom moulds work because workers keep them in. A foam plug that pinches gets pulled out, and out of the ear it provides nothing, whatever its rated attenuation.
Taking impressions on site, by a clinician, removes the other common failure point.
On-site custom ear moulds suit any employer with workers in a noise hazard area, especially where foam plugs are not staying in:
Mills often combine ear impressions with their annual hearing testing for forestry and wood products.
Foam plugs only work if they seal, and section 7.7 of the OHS Regulation requires hearing protection to be worn effectively in noise hazard areas - issuing it is not enough. A mould made from the worker's own ear canal is comfortable enough to stay in for a full shift.
For Promac, a licensed audiologist, on site: Shruti, licensed with the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC in both Audiology and Hearing Instrument Dispensing. We do not post out self-impression kits, because a poor impression produces a mould that never fits.
Yes. This visit was to Duncan in the Cowichan Valley; we cover Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, the Fraser Valley and the Interior, and a crew of 20 is a comfortable single visit.
By the noise in that area. Under the CSA classification, Class A (higher attenuation) generally suits exposure around 95 to 105 dBA and Class B roughly 90 to 95 dBA; at Promac, workers received one or the other by area of the mill.
Section 7.3 of the Regulation requires an employer to measure noise where workers may be exposed to harmful levels, or where information suggests exposure above 82 dBA Lex. Until then you are guessing at the class, and over-protecting is its own hazard when a worker needs to hear a reversing alarm.
Yes, and most employers do. Impressions can be taken during the annual audiometric testing visit, so the crew comes through once and new hires since the last round are picked up.
That is why class selection matters, and filtered moulds are available. Where workers need to hear each other or a reversing alarm, we will advise on the right class and filtered options.