A groundbreaking initiative to help venues implement a global standard for safe listening at music events launched this year. HELA (Healthy Ears Limited Annoyance) provides short online certification for those working in the live music and dance industries.
Alarmed at unsafe listening practices at music events, senior lecturer at the Australian National University’s School of Music, Dr Johannes (Jos) Mulder and colleagues overseas have created an initiative that aims to reduce the risk of damaging hearing.
For many years, some argued that music was less harmful because it was not industrial noise, he says, but “now we know that loud music can be as harmful to ears as a machine”.
A former sound engineer, Dr Mulder transitioned 15 years ago to academia where, apart from teaching, his research focuses on the dangers of entertainment sound, particularly loud music at concerts, and the risk of hearing damage from headphone listening and video gaming.
“We know that entertainment sound is often too loud. People go dancing and are exposed to dangerously loud sound, go to concerts and knowingly expose themselves and come home with big threshold shifts, beeping in their ears and all sorts of issues,” he says.
Studies show this exposure can lead to hearing loss and tinnitus.
In 2018, Dr Mulder began collaborating with four colleagues from the Audio Engineering Society (AES), a global body for audio engineers, the industry and research. They came up with the idea of music industry certification to reduce hearing damage from exposure.
“We thought, if you want to be a chef or work in a restaurant, you need to have demonstrated skills to ensure you don’t place your customers at risk of food poisoning, whereas anyone can rock up to venues and crank up the music,” he says.
“That has to change because you need people who, in addition to technological skills and communication skills, also understand what they’re doing in terms of sound and the risk they’re bringing to audiences, musicians and workers.”
The group expanded to 10 including audiologists, sound engineers and communication experts. They surveyed more than 2,500 sound engineers in 63 countries and found most would undertake safe listening certification and be willing to attend training to gain certification.
They presented their idea for education and certification at the International Conference on Audio Education online in July 2021 during the COVID pandemic.
The group spent two years devising a curriculum for online safe listening certification for event staff, venue owners and patrons.
“Halfway through, we realised we shouldn’t just be targeting audio engineers or the person at the mixing desk but also venue management, the people who do the security and pick up the empty glasses, door staff and patrons, as all are exposed,” Dr Mulder says.
“Called Healthy Ears, Limited Annoyance or HELA, the certification is like food hygiene training but for your ears.”
While initially aimed at training venue staff on sound safety, it has evolved to be for all key stakeholders in the live event industry.
“This groundbreaking initiative aims to set a new global standard for safe listening at live events by educating venue staff, managers and others on safe listening practices and certifying them worldwide to implement WHO (World Health Organization) safe listening standards,” Dr Mulder says.
Low cost enables accessibility
The creators split training into a simple core version for general awareness to educate event staff on how to protect their ears and reduce risks at concerts and venues, and a more advanced version for audio engineers and technical managers.
It includes best practice and covers audience expectations, acoustic and sound system design, hearing health, management and communication.
The cost of $10 per person for the core 45-minute course, and $30 for the half day advanced course, makes it accessible to all and provides certification for five years, Dr Mulder adds. A quiz must be passed afterwards to gain certification.
All revenue goes to research with the HELA Research Co-op, which launched in August 2025, allocating funds to projects. It will receive funding from UK Research and Innovation, which funds research in the UK, for three years to get started while slowly building revenue from the HELA certificates.
Training is not positioned as occupational health and safety (OHS) training. Dr Mulder says sound would have to be 80-83 decibels over eight hours to qualify under OHS regulations, depending on the region, – much lower than any music venue. Also, fans could only attend a typical pub gig or rock venue for 7.5 minutes if it was an OHS rule at this level.
When the organisers finished the course design in 2024, they approached industry including manufacturers of loudspeakers. They were happy to support the initiative and help fund it to get off the ground through Derby University in the UK.
The NightTime Industries Association (NTIA) also came on board. A peak UK body that represents nightclubs, cafes, bars and venues, it already had a hearing preservation campaign, Listen for Life with partners including Specsavers Audiology. But it made HELA a partner also and included it in its campaign.
“HELA launched on World Hearing Day in 2025 and everyone who works in these venues is invited to take the certificate. When all staff are certified, a venue can say it is certified,” Dr Mulder says.
“Certification is open to the world. We’re working with a peak European body for music venues which represents about 3000 venues. Brazil and South America are very interested, and we’ll create a Spanish version soon.”
There are ongoing trials and collaborations globally with stakeholders, audiologists, audio engineers, music and hospitality bodies.
In Australia, Dr Mulder’s first year students at ANU have completed certification and will be surveyed to determine if it’s suitable to include in courses for music, dancing and audio engineer students.
Helps implement WHO standard
Importantly, HELA certification is a support mechanism to help venues, workers and staff implement the WHO Global standard for safe listening venues and events, released in 2022.
Dr Mulder is a member of the consultation group for the WHO’s Make Listening Safe initiative, created in 2015, which aims to make recreational listening safe. The initiative developed the venues standard, and another, the Global standard for safe listening devices and systems.
The venues standard states 1.1 billion young people are at risk of hearing loss because of unsafe listening practices and 40% of people aged 12 to 35 in high and middle income countries are exposed to damaging sound levels in entertainment venues.
Dr Mulder says HELA is based on work carried out by the Audio Engineering Society (AES) Technical Committee on Acoustics and Sound Reinforcement and the WHO’s Make Listening Safe Initiative, specifically the WHO’s Technical Working Group on the Global standard for safe listening venues and events.
From 2018 to 2020 an AES working group on sound exposure and noise pollution due to outdoor entertainment events critically analysed the problem. It worked on sound level monitoring at live events including regulations, practices and preferences, tools and procedures.
“The venues standard puts the maximum limit at 100dB, A-weighted, equivalent loudness measured over 15 minutes at music events. This is still dangerously loud, so you still need hearing protection, but it aims to stop ‘stupid loud’,” he says. “It’s had a lot of buy-in from governments, venues, health bodies, and hearing bodies.”
The standard comprises six features which, when implemented, allow audience members to enjoy amplified music while protecting their hearing, and preserving integrity of the artistic experience.
The features allow a maximum limit of 100 decibels over 15 minutes, to facilitate a compromise between safe and enjoyable. They also ensure safe listening through live monitoring and recording of sound levels by staff using calibrated equipment, and optimisation of venue acoustics and sound systems.
The standard specifies personal hearing protection such as earplugs and designated quiet zones should be available for audience members, and audience members and staff should be informed of practical steps to ensure safe listening.
The course information says audiences expect venues and events to be operated responsibly and a commitment to professionalism is central to meeting this expectation. Non-technical staff including bar staff, security and door staff, venue managers and owners also have a responsibility towards safe listening, the HELA website states.
Dr Mulder’s next step is getting Australia on board, engaging Australian stakeholders and promoting the initiative further here.
He recommends reusable ear plugs for music events, which can be bought for about $20, but he says they’re worth it. The message is people can still have a ‘HELAva good time’ at music events without damaging their hearing, he adds.
The HELA website sums it up nicely. “HELA isn’t just about turning down the sound levels or putting earplugs in your ears – it’s about smart sound management that benefits audiences, artists, and communities alike; education presented in a digestible way and learning how to prevent your hearing from being destroyed while doing something you love.”
Learn more at helainitiative.com.
More reading
Gamers twice as likely to have hearing loss says WHO, ITU as they launch first gaming standard
Parents urged to reduce earbud and headphone noise exposure risk to kids
