Question of the Week | OSHA News | Recent OSHA Rules | Recent OSHA Interpretations
Health & Safety News
Volume 8, Issue 9
Question of the WeekDo Hearing Protection Requirements Apply to Hearing-Impaired Employees? Q. We have certain areas in our facility where noise levels exceed OSHA's TWA (time weighted average) permissible noise exposure levels. I know that employees working in the area are supposed to be given some sort of "hearing protection," but what about employees who have suffered a loss of hearing and wear hearing aids? Is it acceptable to just tell them to turn the hearing aids down or off when they are working in the area? Would employees who are diagnosed as being deaf need to be provided with hearing protection in these noisy areas of the facility? A. Whenever employees are subjected to sound exceeding OSHA's permissible exposure levels, administrative or engineering controls should be implemented to try to reduce the noise to acceptable levels. If these controls fail to reduce sound levels to acceptable limits, then personal protective equipment must be provided and used to reduce sound levels to permissible levels [29 CFR 1910.95(b)(1)]. In addition, employees who are exposed to an eight-hour Time Weighted Average (TWA) noise level of 85 dBA or greater and who have experienced a standard threshold shift (defined as a change in hearing threshold relative to the baseline audiogram of an average of 10 dB or more at 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz in either ear [29 CFR 1910.95(g)(10)(i)] must be provided with, and must use, hearing protectors with sufficient attenuation to reduce noise levels below 85 dBA [1910.95(i)(1) and (2)]. This standard applies to all employees; there are no exceptions for employees who have diminished capacity to hear or for employees who have been diagnosed as deaf. Employees with a diminished capacity to hear cannot satisfy the requirement to wear hearing protection simply by turning off their hearing aids when working in a high noise area because hearing aids are not hearing protectors. Turning the hearing aids off will not protect them from further harmful effects of excessive noise. The proper course of action would be for them to leave their hearing aids on and wear ear muffs with sufficient attenuation to reduce all workplace noise below 85 dBA TWA. Since even employees who have been diagnosed with severe or profound deafness may still hear some noise, they would also need to be protected from additional loss through the use of hearing protectors. Join the conversation! Visit the osh-mgmt Discussion Group to post comments, ask questions, and get answers!
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