The hearing protectors provided must reduce employee exposures to at least 90 dBA, or 85 dBA when they have already suffered a hearing loss. ◆ employees exposed over the permissible exposure limit of 90 dBA over an 8-hour time weighted average. ◆ employees who have exhibited a hearing loss, since it appears that they might be susceptible to noise and, ◆ employees for any period exceeding 6 months from the time of their first exposure to noise until they receive their baseline exams This ensures that employees will have access to hearing protection before they experience a hearing loss. The employer must make hearing protectors available to all workers exposed to noise at or above 85 dBA for an 8-hour time weighted average. Early identification of hearing loss allows corrective and preventive action to be taken.Įmployees are entitled to get a copy of their test results, and must be informed of any hearing loss within 21 days from the determination that the hearing test indicates a loss. A comparison against the baseline audiogram will help to identify any deterioration in an individual’s hearing ability. These tests must be performed annually with the first conducted within one year of the baseline audiogram. Employees should not be exposed to occupational noise for at least 14 hours prior to the baseline test unless they are provided with and use hearing protection. Exception: If mobile test vans are used by the employer, the employees must have their baseline hearing test performed within one year of their first exposure, however the employees must be provided with and required to wear hearing protectors for that time exceeding 6 months after their first exposure until the baseline test is performed. The baseline-hearing test must be provided within 6 months of the employee’s first exposure to noise at or above 85 dBA. These tests serve as references against which all future audiograms are compared on an individual basis. This testing must be provided at no cost to those employees who are exposed to noise at or above 85 dBA. The employer must establish and maintain an audiometric (hearing) testing program.
#DECIBEL EXPOSURE CHART FREE#
If a worker’s exposure exceeds 85 dBA averaged over eight hours, the OSHA standard requires the employer to provide that worker with annual hearing tests and a choice of free hearing protection. Employees are entitled to observe the monitoring procedures and must be notified of the results of the exposure monitoring. If such controls are not feasible, the employer may utilize personal protective equipment to reduce worker exposure to noise. If noise levels are above 90 dBA, the employer must first attempt to use engineering controls to bring noise levels down below 90 dBA. This monitoring must be performed during a typical work situation and should be repeated when changes in production, process, or controls increase noise exposure. The standard requires that all areas suspected to be over 85 dBA be monitored in order to identify employees who are exposed to noise at or above 85 dBA.
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