It’s imperative that corporations with employees in such working conditions monitor their hearing over time to ensure their safety and implement an audiometric testing program in the workplace. When establishing and maintaining an audiometric testing program, employers must include baseline audiograms, annual audiograms, training, and follow-up procedures.

BASELINE AUDIOGRAMS
A baseline audiogram is used in reference to compare future audiograms and must be completed within six months of the employee’s initial exposure at or above an 8- hour average of 85 dB.

ANNUAL AUDIOGRAMS
Annual audiograms must be provided within one year of the baseline audiogram and maintained on a yearly basis thereafter. This test is to determine whether the employee has had any loss or impairment of hearing from the baseline audiogram. It’s vital to ensure the timeliness of this test to detect any hearing impairment or a standard threshold shift (STS) as soon as possible.

An STS is an average shift (hearing loss) of 10 dB or more at 2,000, 3,000, and 4,000 hertz in either ear. These two audiograms are graphical representations of hearing tests. The red circles are for the right ear and the blue X’s are for the left ear hearing thresholds. That refers to the softest sound that can be heard at each frequency. They correspond to loudness in decibels indicated on the left side.