The OSHA link to the hearing conservation amendment is the link below- click on either the picture or the red text.

1910.45 Hearing conservation amendment

HEARING CONSERVATION –  RECENT CHANGES IN THE OSHA LAW:

Posted: March 2004

On July 1, 2002, OSHA published its final rule for recording occupational hearing loss on the Form 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (29 CFR 1904.10); effective date January 1, 2003. Additional clarifications were released on December 17, 2002. On January 1, 2004 it became mandatory to record hearing loss in a separate column on the OSHA Form 300.

To review the most current  Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ruling regarding the revision of the hearing loss recording provisions of the Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements rule published January 19, 2001 (66 FR 5916-6135), scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2003 (66 FR 52031-52034). This final rule 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 year 2003.

 For those companies that maintain active hearing conservation programs, and for those occupational health clinics that administer hearing tests for industrial clients,  we offer the following references.

• For additional information on recordability requirements.
• For recent OSHA letters of interpretation on related issues.
• For information on OSHA recordability issues.
• For a variety of Resources on noise and hearing conservation.

HEARING CONSERVATION:

• To test your knowledge of hearing conservation programs in general.
• For a checklist on hearing conservation.
• To look at a sample hearing conservation program developed by Colorado State University.
• For additional information on whether or not to record a STS.
• For a decision tree flowchart  whether or not to record a STS.