Personal Attenuation Rating (PAR) is a measure of hearing protector attenuation for each worker as determined by Individual Fit Testing. Individual Fit Testing is conducted for each employee using his/her own hearing protector as normally worn. OSHA, NIOSH and many professional organizations have long recognized that the laboratory-derived NRR is not a good predictor of actual hearing protector performance in the real world. Individual Fit Testing is now a recommended best practice for hearing conservation programs.

For more information, see our SoundBytes article.