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Noise and Hearing Conservation |
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Noise and hearing conservation is addressed in specific standards for
recordkeeping and the general industry. This page highlights OSHA standards,
Federal Registers (rules, proposed rules, and notices), directives (instructions
for compliance officers), other federal standards, and national consensus
standards related to noise and hearing conservation.
OSHA
Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, often referred to as the General Duty
Clause, requires employers to "furnish to each of his employees employment and a
place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or
are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees". Section
5(a)(2) requires employers to "comply with occupational safety and health
standards promulgated under this Act".
Note:
Twenty-four states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have
OSHA-approved
State Plans and have adopted their own standards and enforcement policies. For the most part, these States adopt standards that are
identical to Federal OSHA. However, some States have adopted different standards applicable to this topic or may have different enforcement
policies. |
Highlighted Standards
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Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, often referred to as the General Duty
Clause, requires employers to "furnish to each of his employees employment and a
place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or
are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees". This
section may be used to cite hazards for which there are no specific standards,
such as ergonomics. [related
topic page]
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1904, Recording and reporting occupational injuries and illness [related
topic page]
- 1904.10, Recording criteria for cases involving occupational hearing loss
General Industry (29 CFR 1910)
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1910 Subpart G, Occupational health and environment control
- 1910.95, Occupational noise exposure
- Appendix A, Noise exposure computation
- Appendix B, Methods for estimating the adequacy of hearing protector attenuation
- Appendix C, Audiometric measuring instruments
- Appendix D, Audiometric test rooms
- Appendix E, Acoustic calibration of audiometers
- Appendix F, Calculations and application of age corrections to audiograms
- Appendix G, Monitoring noise levels non-mandatory informational appendix
- Appendix H, Availability of referenced documents
- Appendix I, Definitions
Federal Registers
- Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements.
Final Rules 67:44037-44048, (2002, July 1). Revises the criteria for recording hearing loss cases
in several ways, including requiring the recording of Standard
Threshold Shifts (10 dB shifts in hearing acuity) that have resulted in a
total 25 dB level of hearing above audiometric zero, averaged over the
frequencies at 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz, beginning in the year 2003.
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Search all available
Federal Registers.
Directives
Other Resources
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Hearing Conservation. Publication 3074, (Revised 2002).
Also available as a 160 KB
PDF,
32 pages. Summarizes the required component of OSHA's hearing conservation program for general industry.
Covers
monitoring, audiometric testing, hearing protectors, training, and recordkeeping requirements.
Other Federal
Note: These are NOT OSHA regulations. However, they do
provide guidance from their originating organizations related to worker
protection.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
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49 CFR 227,
Occupational Noise Exposure for Railroad Operating Employees. Requires railroads to conduct noise monitoring
and implement a hearing conservation program for employees whose exposure to
cab noise equals or exceeds an 8-hour TWA of 85 dBA. This final rule became
effective February 26, 2007.
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227.101, Scope and
applicability
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227.103, Noise
monitoring program
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227.105, Protection
of employees
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227.107, Hearing
conservation program
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227.109, Audiometric
testing program
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227.111, Audiometric
test requirements
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227.113, Noise
operational controls
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227.115, Hearing
protectors
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227.117, Hearing
protector attenuation
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227.119, Training
program
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227.121,
Recordkeeping
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49
CFR 229, Railroad Locomotive Safety Standards
- 49 CFR Parts 227 and 229. 493 KB
PDF,
74 pages. Occupational Noise Rule.
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
US Coast Guard
US Department of Defense (DoD)
- DoD Hearing Conservation Program. Instruction
No. 6055.12, (2004, March 5), 927 KB
PDF, 40 pages. Includes exposure limits and requirements for monitoring, control methods,
hearing conservation programs, and more as part of the hearing conservation
program.
US Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration
National Consensus
Note: These are NOT OSHA regulations. However, they do
provide guidance from their originating organizations related to worker
protection.
American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
- A10.46-2007, Hearing Loss Prevention in Construction and Demolition Workers.
Applies to all
construction and demolition workers with potential noise exposures
(continuous, intermittent and impulse) of 85 dBA and above.
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S3.1-1999 (R2008), Maximum Permissible
Ambient Noise Levels for Audiometric Test Rooms. Specifies maximum permissible
ambient noise levels (MPANLs) allowed in an audiometric test room that produce
negligible masking (less than or equal to 2 dB) of test signals presented at
reference equivalent threshold levels specified in American National Standard
S3.6-1996 American National Standard Specification of Audiometers. This
standard is a revision of ANSI S3.1-1991 American National Standard Maximum
Permissible Ambient Noise Levels for Audiometric Test Rooms.
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S3.41-1990 (R2008), Audible Emergency
Evacuation Signal. Indicates the development of an international audible
signal which, when heard, would unequivocally mean "evacuate the building
immediately." ISO-8201, Audible Emergency Evacuation Signal, was
approved by International Standards Organization and published in December,
1987. This ANSI standard is written to conform with the international
standard.
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S3.44-1996 (R2006), Determination of
Occupational Noise Exposure and Estimation of Noise-Induced Hearing
Impairment.
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S3.6-2004, American National Standard
Specification for Audiometers. Covers devices designed for use in determining
the hearing threshold of an individual in comparison with a chosen standard
reference threshold level. This standard provides specifications and
tolerances for pure tone, speech, and masking signals and describes the
minimum test capabilities of different types of audiometers.
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S12.6-1997 (R2002), Methods for Measuring
the Real-Ear Attenuation of Hearing Protectors. Specifies laboratory-based
procedures for measuring, analyzing, and reporting the noise-reducing
capabilities of conventional passive hearing protection devices (HPDs). Two
fitting procedures are provided: Method A) experimenter- supervised fit,
designed to describe the capabilities of the devices under ideal conditions,
and Method B) subject fit intended to approximate the protection that can be
attained by groups of informed users in workplaces with representative
well-managed and well-supervised occupational hearing conservation programs.
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