⏱️ Estimated reading time: 12 min
Key Takeaways
They can help you focus. A passive earplug turns the whole room down, nearby conversation included, and overheard speech is the sound most likely to pull your attention away from reading and writing. The office gets quieter, not silent.
No. A typical open-plan office sits around 55–70 dB(A), below the 80 dB(A) lower exposure action value in the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005. There is no hearing protection duty at that level, so earplugs at a desk are a personal focus choice.
Everything is reduced, voices included. A colleague speaking right at your desk is usually still audible because they are close and loud, but plan to take your earplugs out for meetings, calls and proper conversations.
With a single-ear headset, a plug in the free ear takes the edge off floor noise. With a two-ear headset, plugs generally come out for calls. Never turn the headset volume up to make up for an earplug.
Not if your team knows why. Tell colleagues you use them for focus blocks, agree how they can get your attention, and take them out when someone wants to talk.
A reusable silicone earplug that seals without pressure and sits flush in the ear. Our WorkPRO earplugs are rated SNR 24 dB, last up to 100 uses and cost £29.95, though their bright yellow colour is easy to spot at a desk.
Earplugs for an open plan office are not about protecting your hearing. A typical open-plan floor runs at about 55–70 dB(A), well under the level where UK law expects hearing protection, so the reason to wear them is focus. “My office space is completely open and I can’t concentrate” is how one Ask a Manager reader put it.
People who try earplugs for office work hoping for silence often report they can still hear co-workers chatting and walking around. That is normal, because a passive plug turns sound down rather than off.
At Bollsen, we are a family-run hearing protection brand trusted by 1,000,000+ people, and we make reusable silicone earplugs for work, sleep, music and travel. Our hub on choosing earplugs for work covers the louder side of the job.
How loud is an open-plan office, and does the law require earplugs?
A busy open-plan office usually measures about 55–70 dB(A), which sits below the 80 dB(A) lower exposure action value in the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, so your employer has no duty to provide hearing protection and wearing earplugs at your desk is a personal focus choice.
For context, HSE’s noise guidance for employers sets the action values at 80 and 85 dB(A), with an exposure limit of 87 dB(A) and peak values of 135, 137 and 140 dB(C). Office acoustic design aims for around 35–45 dB(A) of background sound. Our explainer on the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 sets out what employers must do once daily exposure reaches those thresholds.
The thresholds exist because HSE estimates around 15,000 workers a year have hearing problems caused or made worse by work (Labour Force Survey, 2022/23–2024/25). At a desk, the cost of noise is lost focus, not lost hearing.
What does a passive 24 dB earplug actually do to office noise?
A passive earplug rated SNR 24 dB lowers the sound reaching your ear by around 24 dB overall (less in the bass, more in the treble), so 65 dB(A) of office chatter arrives at something closer to the low 40s, about the level of a quiet library. It is quieter, not silent, and it has no electronics or noise cancelling.
The reduction is not flat. Our WorkPRO earplugs are rated H 24 / M 21 / L 19 under EN 352-2, and their attenuation rises with frequency, from about 22 dB in the low and middle range to 35 dB at 8 kHz. Sharp sounds like keyboard clicks lose the most, the low hum of air conditioning a little less.
Speech is the sound that matters most. In a lab study of a simulated open-plan office, Jahncke and colleagues (2011) found that 47 participants working for two hours at 51 dB LAeq remembered fewer words and felt more tired than those working at 39 dB. Turning nearby talk down makes it harder to follow, which helps you focus.
| Office sound | Typical level | With a passive SNR 24 plug (approx. at the ear) | In or out? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air conditioning and background hum | 40–45 dB(A) | Around 20 dB, barely noticeable | Optional, in if you like it very quiet |
| Keyboards, printers and footsteps | 50–60 dB(A) | Roughly 30–40 dB, soft and in the background | In for focus blocks |
| Conversation two desks away | 55–65 dB(A) | Roughly 35–45 dB, a murmur that is harder to follow | In for focus blocks |
| Phone calls or a huddle next to you | 65–70 dB(A) | Roughly 45–50 dB, still there but less intrusive | In, unless you are part of the huddle |
| Colleague speaking at your desk | 65–70 dB(A) at close range | Quieter, usually still audible because they are close and loud | Out to talk |
Values are typical and approximate. Real-world fit usually gives a little less than the lab rating.
Which earplugs work best for an office desk?
The best office earplug, like the best earplugs for work in general, is a reusable silicone plug that seals comfortably for a two-hour focus block, sits flush so it does not press when you rest your head on your hand, and is easy to pop out when someone needs you. Our WorkPRO earplugs meet that brief at SNR 24 dB.
WorkPRO uses our two-flange, hypoallergenic silicone body with a patented design, and each pair lasts up to 100 uses. There is one honest trade-off for desk use. It comes in bright high-visibility yellow because it was designed for workshops and sites, so colleagues will notice it, which some people treat as a handy “busy” signal and others would rather avoid.
For an office desk, our WorkPRO earplugs (SNR 24 dB, £29.95) are German-tested, independently certified 24 dB and covered by our 40-day money-back guarantee.
If you are weighing foam, silicone and banded plugs across different jobs, our guide to the best earplugs for work compares each type by noise level and comfort. A plug only helps when it seals, and our step-by-step guide on how to put earplugs in and check the fit shows the quick seal test worth doing before your first focus block.
Can you wear earplugs under a call-centre headset?
In a call centre with a single-ear headset, an earplug in the free ear takes the edge off the floor noise from dozens of other calls, while the headset ear stays open for the customer. With a two-ear (binaural) headset, earplugs generally come out for calls.
The one thing to avoid is wearing a plug under the headset speaker and turning the volume up to compensate. That pushes more sound into your ear, not less, and long shifts at high headset volume are worth raising with your team leader or occupational health. Between calls, a plug in both ears is fine.
How do you wear earplugs at a hot desk without seeming rude?
Wearing earplugs at a hot desk comes across as considerate rather than rude when you tell the people around you why, agree how they can reach you, and treat the plugs as a quieter version of the headphones-on signal most offices already understand.
One Mumsnet user said her headphones acted as a signal to colleagues that she should not be disturbed. Earplugs send the same message more quietly, so make it explicit with a line in the team chat or a desk card. A tap on the shoulder or a message works better than waving.
Hygiene matters more when desks are shared. Keep your own pair in its case in your bag or locker rather than on the desk, never lend them, and wash them with mild soap and warm water, letting them dry fully before the next use.
When should the earplugs come out?
Take office earplugs out for meetings, phone and video calls, conversations at your desk and any fire drill, because the point is to cut background distraction during focus work, not to shut yourself off from the people you work with.
You may read that HSE warns against over-protection, meaning protection that brings the level at your ear below 70 dB, and that it matches SNR ratings to noise bands. Both points in HSE’s hearing protection guidance apply to workplaces at or above 80–85 dB(A). In a 60 dB(A) office, the level at your ear will be below 70 dB with or without a plug, so neither rule applies to you.
Alarms are a fair question too. A fire alarm is designed to be loud and gets turned down along with everything else, so if it sounds, follow the evacuation and take your plugs out as you go. Our guide to hearing alarms with earplugs in at work explains how alarm levels are set for noisier sites.
If you are planning to keep them in for most of the day, our guide to wearing earplugs all day at work covers comfort and ear care. If you are torn between plugs and headphones at your desk, we compare them properly in our guide to noise cancelling earplugs for work.
What if office sound feels louder to you than to others?
If everyday office sound feels louder or more tiring to you than it seems to be for the people around you, our guide to earplugs for noise sensitivity covers how people build quieter breaks into a working day.
Some office sounds bother people for reasons that have little to do with volume. On one Hacker News thread, colleagues eating at their desks was named an instant headphones-on trigger, and we look at that in our guide to misophonia at work. Our earplugs for focus at home with ADHD guide covers routines away from the office.
Earplugs are a comfort and focus tool, not a fix for a health concern. If your hearing seems to be changing, or you notice ringing that does not settle, the NHS advises speaking to your GP, and sudden changes need urgent advice from your GP or NHS 111.
What about home days, students and whole office teams?
Plenty of office workers protect their deep work with home days or early starts, and one Mumsnet user described coming in 1.5 hours early just to get quiet time. The same earplugs travel with you, and we cover the home side in our guide to earplugs for working from home.
Other desk-adjacent jobs have their own needs, which we cover in our guide to earplugs for teachers, while students revising in shared spaces can start with our guide to earplugs for studying and exams.
If several office teams on your floor want earplugs for office use, it is simpler to buy for everyone at once. Our page on WorkPRO for office teams (bulk orders) explains how team orders work and who to contact for larger quantities.
An open-plan office is rarely loud enough to harm your hearing, but it is often loud enough to break your concentration. A passive earplug turns the whole room down, by around 24 dB overall and more at high pitches than low, and takes the edge off nearby speech. Someone who comes right up to your desk is usually still audible because they are close and loud.
Tell your team what the plugs mean, take them out for people, and give a few weeks of real office days to see whether WorkPRO suits the way you work.
His connection to hearing protection stems from personal experience with sound sensitivity during live events and work in noisy environments, an issue that made him more aware of the long-term risks of unmanaged noise exposure. Today, as both a communicator and a user of BOLLSEN products, he is passionate about raising awareness around the importance of proactive hearing care.
At BOLLSEN, he develops data-driven marketing campaigns, writes SEO-focused articles, and manages communication channels that connect customers with practical knowledge about hearing protection. His work ensures that BOLLSEN’s message—prioritizing health, performance, and sustainability reaches a global audience in an engaging and trustworthy way.
Passionate about writing since childhood, Timotej combines creativity with a strong analytical approach, continuously testing new ideas in digital marketing, performance advertising, and social media. He believes in learning through innovation and collaboration, balancing leadership with openness to new perspectives.
Beyond his professional role, Timotej is committed to a healthy lifestyle and finds inspiration in fitness, sports, and quality time with friends. His personal passion for well-being aligns with BOLLSEN’s core values, making his work not only a career but also a cause he deeply believes in.