[MegaSparks]

We have found noise to be an issue in the past and we as a team have expanded our safety program to address this issue and the potential long term affects. If this is an issue for your team earplugs are available. Monitoring equipment does not solve this issue but only brings is to light. Proper personal protective equipment needs to be available then to address this issue. Should FIRST take action to resolve this issue? Yes, I believe they should, but then to what level? The OSHA guidelines protect only the majority of the population. People could still have issues with this mandated level and then FIRST would be open to possible hearing loss claims because events were at or below limits. It would be nice if the events would be considerate of those people in the audience and turn the volume levels down voluntarily, but until then we, the teams, need to take the steps to mitigate the potential hazard. We need to work together to push for improvements and not mandates. FIRST has a good record of safety.
I would disagree with the last statement you made that FIRST monitors and makes rules on all other aspects of safety. FIRST leaves much of this to the teams to build their own safety program. Noise level monitoring and protection should be an active part of an all-encompassing safety program.