Posted By Joan Blease
I have been watching this thread for a number of weeks now and I thought that it was about time that I commented. I have been an audiologist since 1972 and now run an occupational health company which provides hearing tests etc to industry.
As a Company (since 1990) we have always carried out hearing tests in a mobile vehicle with a sound proof booth because I believe, it is the only way that the test results can be accurately repeated on an annual basis. Also we tend to work in industries that do not have the luxury of having a boardroom or equivalent "quiet room". Therefore hearing tests carried out without a sound proof booth in such environments would, as far as I am concerned, be unreliable.
I personally believe that the legislation points to the use of a sound proof booth, although those who don’t use a booth read the legislation in different way. I also believe that the person carrying out the hearing tests has to be overseen by an Occupational Health Physician/Audiologist, although others feel that it is okay to send a person (non medical) on a 2 or 3 day course and let them loose on their employees without medical supervision.
I will back the above statements with extracts from the following sources:
Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005
EN26189 Pure tone air conduction threshold audiometry for hearing conservation purposes
Test environment (Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005)
“EN26189 gives criteria which should be met in test rooms to prevent test tones being masked by ambient sound levels and to allow measurement of hearing thresholds down to 0dB. The quietest listening conditions are required at test frequencies of 1KHz and below. IT IS USUALLY NECESSARY TO USE AN AUDIMETRIC SOUND PROOF BOOTH TO ACHIEVE ACCEPTABLE LISTENING CONDITIONS.” For the employee to hear 0dB at 1KHz the noise level at that frequency should not exceed 28dB (Taken from Table 3 EN26189).
Therefore, before a hearing test takes place in a “quiet room” without a sound proof booth a noise survey must be carried out with OCTAVE BAND ANALYSIS to ensure that the noise levels meet the criteria in EN26189 otherwise the test environment is “considered inappropriate”
Responsibility for the programme (Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005)
“There should be a designated person placed in charge of the health surveillance programme. This person should be fully conversant with the technical and ethical aspects of the conduct of occupational audiology and in particular be responsible for:
· The quality of service provided
· Ensuring that appropriate standards are maintained during testing
· Record keeping
· Referring individuals for further advice
A suitable person might be an occupational physician or nurse with specialist training in audiometry or audiologist.”
EXTRACT TAKEN FROM HSE GUIDANCE ON NOISE A
http://www.hse.gov.uk/no...hsurveillance.htm#expect“The whole health surveillance programme needs to be under the control of an OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL (for example a doctor or a nurse with appropriate training and experience). You, as the employer, have the responsibility for making sure the health surveillance is carried out properly”
Based on the above, my professional advice is as follows
· The hearing tests NEEDS to be overseen by an Occupational Health Professional
· The hearing tests should be carried out in an environment where the ambient noise level does not exceed 28dB at 1KHz – a soundproof booth is usually necessary
· If a soundproof booth is not being used, a noise survey using octave band analysis must be carried out to ensure that the ambient noise levels does not exceed the values in Table 3 detailed in EN26189 - otherwise the room is thought to be inappropriate
· If your service provider does not use a soundproof booth make sure that they do the noise survey with octave band analysis and insist on having a copy of their report and check the various readings against EN26189. Also, ask the person to prove that they are competent to carry out the required noise survey.
· You must, as the employer, make that the health surveillance is carried out PROPERLY.
If anyone needs any further sound advice please get in touch either by email or on 01925 838350