That's only for employees though Smarty...
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1643/regulation/7/made
I have to say I'm half tempted to give them a go purely to see what it's like to not be half deaf the following day but I am curious as to why I see so few people actually wearing them if they're so popular? Also I think if a lot of clubs stuck to the volumes set out in their license there wouldn't be a problem but nobody wants to dob them in so it's catch 22 really...
the only people who ware them usually, as you say are staff, and also producers, the ones who value their hearing, some dj's too, but as i said before, constant loud noise isnt actually as dangerous as sudden volume changes, if you go from 50-60db out on the street, and stand in a club @ 110db, that is where the biggest danger comes from, if you build the volume up over an hour or so, ur ears adapt better, but it will still fuk ur ears up
i got tinnitus a few times, always from playing out, and always with monitors like Mackies, i'm allot more fussy about what I play on these days, often i'd rather have the monitors off and do it thru my cans...hopefully eventually i'll save up enough cash to get sum nice molded monitor headphone/filters for playing out
its a massive shame that they arnt pushed more imo, going deaf isnt the only problem, tinnitus can be permenant, and can also be very loud, some people develop to the point where its louder than anything else around them, a screaming high-pitched whine day in day out is pretty messed up
going by what is popular isnt a good way to deciede wether sumthing is a good idea, infact allot of the time humans behave like lemmings because of this kind of thinking and end up in all sorts of trouble