LAUNCH ‘OORVEILIG’ HALLMARK FOR CLUBS AND POP VENUES. Breakthrough in preventing hearing loss.
Amsterdam, December 1st 2011 – The National Hearing Foundation and Club Judge launch ‘Oorveilig’, a new hallmark for ear safety. This hallmark provides a comprehensive package of concrete measures, such as reducing the volume level, offering good hearing protection and providing active education and information to visitors and staff. Participants of the hallmark can significantly reduce the risk of hearing damage with their visitors and staff. AIR in Amsterdam is the first music venue in the Netherlands to convey the hallmark. Oorveilig is developed in collaboration with innovation company BLOEI and with support of ‘VriendenLoterij’.
The reason for the development of Oorveilig is the fact that the amount of music lovers facing hearing damage is growing every year. Annually around 20.000 additioonal youngsters are facing hearing damage. Over 80% of these party people are suffering from a nasty beep in their ears and this same amount thinks that the sound is too loud in music venues. With the aim to stop this development, the National Hearing Foundation has started the Oorveilig project, in collaboration with Club Judge and BLOEI. This hallmark is the practical continuation of the agreements on paper which were set out earlier this year in the official agreement between the National Hearing Foundation and the music industry organizations VVEM and VNPF.
The development of Oorveilig was made possible by an initial grant of the ‘VriendenLoterij’. Marieke van Shaik, Managing Director of VriendenLoterij about Oorveilig: “Over 20.000 youngsters in the Netherlands are facing permanent hearing damage each year. We think this is way too much. Therefore we would like to contribute to this project which aims to change clubs and festivals into a safe environment with regard to sound, so that fewer youngsters are facing hearing damage and to make sure they can continue enjoying music”.
Clubs and pop venues which are participating in the hallmark take a whole series of concrete measures to limit the risk of hearing damage. The volume level is reduced to an average of 103 dB(A) per 15 minutes and there is equipment to measure the decibel levels visible for visitors. Also there is information displayed at the entrance of the venue and there are vending machines with good earplugs for sale. Finally, at least twenty percent of the staff of the venue participated in a professional training and/or online courses. At every location with the hallmark there are so-called ear protectors appointed that observe the compliance of the hallmark. They are the contacts for requested information by visitors.
AIR is the first venue to be ‘Oorveilig’
AIR in Amsterdam is the first club in the Netherland to join the Oorveilig hallmark. The first official placard will be handed over to Sander Groet, co-owner of AIR, during the official Oorveilig launch in the club. “We give our full support to Oorveilig and I think it is only normal that other venues also join the hallmark. It is our responsibility to make sure everybody can go out safely. That also includes that your ears do not break” says Sander Groet.
Public campaign: Love Music, F*ck Piep
The campaign slogan for visitors to the participating clubs and music venues is : Love Music, F*ck Piep”. This public campaign will be conducted at all participating locations where the hallmark is introduced, supplemented with information on the oorveilig.nl/lovemusic website, social media and national media. In an appealing way, visitors will be advised to protect their ears in different ways. Besides that, DJ and producer Gregor Salto is an active ambassador of the campaign.
Oorveilig decibel dB measurement App
From December 12 there is a free Oorveilig decibel measurement App available in the ITunes store. With this App it is possible to test the volume level in the venue, to perform a risk test and therefore gain personal advice. In a few moments users see if they ‘go out Oorveilig’.
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