SURVEYS FOR REGULATORY COMPLIANCE AND HEARING CONSERVATION PROGRAMS

To protect employees from the harmful effects of high noise exposure, several regulatory agencies have set forth limits for noise and employee noise exposure. For example, the guidelines established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are used to evaluate employee noise exposure and determine the need for a hearing conservation program (HCP) in facilities under OSHA jurisdiction. The OSHA Occupational Noise Exposure Standard and Hearing Conservation Amendment (29 CFR 1910.95) describe the requirements necessary to protect most employees from the effects of hazardous noise. According to the Occupational Noise Exposure Standard, feasible administrative or engineering controls are required to limit employee noise exposures to an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) of 90 dBA. Additionally, the OSHA Hearing Conservation Amendment mandates that all employees exposed to a TWA of 85 dBA or greater must be included in a comprehensive HCP. It is toward these requirements that we structure our survey protocol to help ensure compliance with OSHA, or any other applicable regulatory standards. This includes noise regulations by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the Federal Railway Administration, the Department of Transportation, as well as several international standards.