751 Hearing Conservation Program Management

Management Responsibilities

Managers should support the audiometric evaluation phase by allocating sufficient resources. Management must ensure all employees (even mobile/itinerant workers) are included in the audiometric phase and they have three options to do that:

1. management may opt to contract for audiometric services with an external source such as a mobile testing contractor or a local hearing clinic;
2. they may choose to purchase audiometric equipment and train a company employee to perform audiometric testing on-site under the supervision of an audiologist or a qualified physician; or
3. they may combine internal and external resources.

The choice depends upon economic considerations as well as the size, policies, and geographical location of the company. If contract services are used, it is critically important that management still assign responsibility for overseeing the hearing conservation program to a key on-site individual.

All employees, not just those with threshold shifts, should receive prompt written summaries of their current hearing status from the professional reviewer. Employees also should receive summaries of their hearing trends over time, along with recommendations for further evaluation or any extra precautions needed, such as more careful use of hearing protectors.

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