Can noise cancelling headphones be used as hearing protection?

Short answer: no, these can’t be worn in high noise areas or used as hearing protection, and this applies equally to over-head styles, in-ear styles and bone conduction.

(By the way, if you have no noise risk, then there is nothing stopping them being used - this is just where the noise assessment has identified a noise risk).

1) The law says an employer can’t permit it.

Employers have a legal duty to provide hearing protection which is certified as hearing protection and carries a CE or UKCA mark confirming it has been assessed as hearing protection. It will have performance figures such as an SNR value.

If music playing headphones do not have this, then it is simply illegal for them to be used in a high noise workplace.

2) Noise reduction claims lead more towards marketing

Noise reduction levels claimed by music headphones are not certified and not consistent enough to be relied on. (If Apple could get their AirPods certified as hearing protection as the noise cancelling feature was so good and reliable they’d do it in a heartbeat, the sales would be huge).

3) Noise cancelling removes noise, then the music adds it back.

For most wearers, if the noise-cancelling reduces external noise levels then the music playback will add that noise back in again. Their hearing will be damaged and unfortunately for the employer, they’ll end up still liable for the hearing loss.