For the 300,000 workers in the nation's coal and noncoal mines, the danger of hearing loss outweighs the probability of a roof collapse.

A new State College company, doseBusters USA, has developed an affordable technology to measure noise levels and ensure use of hearing protectors among those workers.

The Exposure Smart Protector or ESP combines a microphone, infrared transmitter and a tiny microprocessor to monitor decibel levels. A printout of those levels enables mine supervisors to identify who's wearing protective devices correctly and who's not wearing them at all.

"The problem now is you never know whether the ear muffs and ear plugs are worn," said Kevin Michael, vice president of the 6-month-old start-up. "Because our system is intended to be worn by every employee every day, we'll know exposure levels every day. We can prevent the continued incidence of occupational hearing loss by documenting safe exposure levels."

Trials at one Pennsylvania and two West Virginia coal mines have demonstrated the viability of the monitoring device mounted in a typical muff-type protector. A fourth test is slated at a Texas Alcoa mine this week.

The mining industry needs a means of complying with a new set of Mine Safety and Health Administration regulations by September 13. Those require mines to operate at 85 decibels, a level lower by five to 15 decibels from what's found in most mines, Michael said. MSHA is hoping mine owners will implment engineering controls on mining equipment to lower the noise level, but the technology does not exist to make that cost effective, Michael said.

doseBuster's unit and system of data management and data transfer will sell for about $200 per miner in a large mine environment, Michael said. While initially concentrating on the mining industry, Michael sees the market for doseBusters in general industry.

Michael and partner J. Alton Burks have applied for patent protection for the doseBuster unit. An $87,000 grant from the Ben Franklin Technology Center of Central and Northern Pennsylvania will give the company the resources to develop an earlpug ESP and to refine the muff ESP.

The partners have met and are meeting with manufacturers to discuss production and licensing of the doseBuster technology, Michael said.

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