Posted By lewes Following a noise survey, how long do we need to keep the results for ?? Thanks for your input

Posted By James K I aree with Ron. Even after an employee has left the services of a company he/she could possibly still make a claim for hearing loss or damage and your records would be required then. On the same topic can anyone enlighten me as to the timescale of noise surveys. I think they are every two years or sooner if you change equipment etc. I stand here ready to be corrected. Jim

Posted By Anthony Edwards Hi, I believe the Noise survey must be reviewed at least every two years, (unless any changes in processes have taken place). I am not aware of any specified length of time for the noise survey to be kept but any health surveillance conducted as a result of the survey should be; see extract from L108 Controlling Noise at Work. What type of records should I keep? 324 You should keep an up-to-date health record for each individual as long as they are under health surveillance. These records should include: ? identification details of the employee; ? the employee's history of exposure to noise; ? the outcome of previous health surveillance in terms of fitness for work, and any restrictions required. 327 The health record should be retained for at least as long as the employee remains in your employment. You may wish to retain it for longer as enquiries regarding the state of an individual's hearing may arise many years after they have left your employment or exposure to noise has ceased. It is good practice to offer individual employees a copy of their health record when they leave your employment. Inspectors from the enforcing authorities are entitled to ask to see your health records as part of their checks that you are complying with these Regulations. If your business should cease trading you may wish to pass the record to the individual concerned. Regards Nutty

Posted By Tony Priest If a noise assessment has identified people at risk then noise health survellence must be carried (hearing tests) these records must be kept for at least 40 years. These records must be kept for such a long time because of the potential of future littigation. My advice is if the assessment identifies people at risk also keep the assessments for the same time (40 yesrs) it may help you in future cases. If the noise assessment does-not identify people are at risk then also keep the assessment as it proves that an assessment has been carried out and there are no potential noise risks at that time.

Posted By Chris Jerman Sorry Tony, I'm a bit behind on noise, we really don't have an issue and I've let my CV slip slightly in that area.. Where does it say that if there is exposure (I presume significant exposure to which people would be harmed if controls failed)) that hearing tests are mandatory? It never used to be. Are there some figures that drive this - eg the upper and lower limits? If wearing the correct PPE and job rotation etc etc is used (following reduction of course)why would you need HS. Clearly, you may wish to see that your employees are not being exposed elsewhere (MP3s, Shooting etc) but I was not aware that this had been made absolute. This is something that is sometimes driven by a change of insurer who doesn't wish to be liable for the debts of the former. It's unlike the HSE/HSC to be that prescriptive. I know that this is about noise survey results, but if we are talking about audiograms, could you replace an older file with a newer one if there had been no change? Why keep the original? I guess that the same could be said of really high results - if it's 110db now and always has been, I'm not sure that keeping records for ever confirming that it is bad would be that helpful. Perhaps it's only beneficial to keep records of reduction of noise through action. This would provide a cut-off on claims for injury made after the improvements, but clearly not those from before. Records of training and instruction along with PPE issue and disciplinary warnings would be more valid. Just a thought Chris Jerman Regards Chris

Posted By Anthony Edwards Tony, I stand corrected but that information was cut and pasted directly from L108 Controlling Noise at Work. Regards Nutty