Headsets for production staff at noisy plant

DACSA is a food ingredients industrial group: rice, corn milling & food solutions.

With ten production plants in seven different locations across Europe and more than 500 employees. Dacsa Group is the leading dry corn milling company in Europe in all its sectors: breakfast cereals, snacks and the brewery industry and it is a distinguished rice producer in Spain and Portugal with recognized rice brands. 


Two-way radio headset eardefender

 Motorola

          

The Challenge

DACSA needed a two-way communication solution for staff at their mill at Liverpool Docks. It is a large site with mill buildings that are five-storeys high. 

DACSA has stringent safety standards including mandatory hearing protection, making communication between production staff difficult. Equipment supplied had to meet their performance specification to recognised quality standards. The headsets needed to be capable of integration with PMR channels, so that communication was available with the wider site area and offices using walkie-talkies.

The Solution

Following a site visit, we supplied loan equipment for DACSA to carry out extensive trials. This was to ensure sufficient operating range of the radio transmission and assessing audio clarity in the high-noise areas.

The Peltor headsets we specified have integrated two-way radios for a solution with no trailing wires or separate radio. Their noise-cancelling microphone (as used in military aircraft etc.) is engineered to achieve clear speech even in very high noise environments. 

We also supplied Motorola hand portable 2-way radios [walkie talkies], and set up several private channels using the software tool, to operate with the headsets.

 

The Benefits

The headsets provide hearing protection in high-noise areas, while enabling clear communication between users. 

They can also be worn in areas with lower noise levels - for example, when walking between buildings. In these areas situational awareness is maintained - this means ambient sounds are transferred to the wearer - without compromising hearing protection safety. 

  • no need to remove headset between high-noise areas
  • situational awareness allows wearer to hear things like fork-lifts & moving vehicles
  • in quieter areas, the headset actively amplifies speech from people standing nearby, allowing normal conversation with colleagues, as if not wearing ear-defenders!

All units are rechargeable with ample battery life for a full working shift, and have become part of each member of staff’s personal equipment [PPE]. Communication between teams in different working areas is possible via the walkie-talkies.

Covid-safe communication - the complete headset and radios can be sanitised using alcohol wipes.

Corn cobsDACSA Mill building