Audiometers—A Closer Look

A Little Occupational Audiology for the Clinical Audiologist

Researchers have reported public school band directors as experiencing noise-induced hearing loss. Little research has focused on collegiate band directors and university student musicians. The present study measures the sound pressure levels generated within a university concert band and compares sound levels with the criteria set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Additionally, the immediate effects of sound exposure are described by temporary threshold shifts (TTS), collected from pre- and postrehearsal hearing screenings. Time-weighted averages were computed from the sound pressure levels and compared to the permissible noise limits established by OSHA and NIOSH. None of the time-weighted averages exceeded the permissible noise limits; however, there were 139 temporary TTSs (greater than 10 dBA) measured from pre- to postrehearsal. Presumably, university concert band musicians are exposed to sound levels that, over time, may lead to noise-induced hearing loss.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was developed to ensure that every American has a safe and healthy work environment. An important component of OSHA's mission is to develop and promulgate minimum standards for workplace safety, and we recently published, JAVMA fan 15, 1994 through Mar 1, 1994, a series of articles giving practical suggestions for complying with current OSHA standards. However, an equally important part of OSHA's mission is inspection of American workplaces to determine whether those workplaces are complying with safety standards. Few veterinarians know what to expect during an OSHA inspection, nor understand what their rights and responsibilities are. In this article, Ms. Richard, an attorney who specializes in management labor and employment law, outlines what to expect and what to do if your practice is inspected by the OSHA. Please remember that the information in this article is based on the author's best interpretation of current law. However, the law can change, and the accuracy of any interpretation of the law can be challenged by the OSHA. Therefore, information in this article is intended to be only a guideline and is not intended to be, nor should it be construed as, legal advice. Veterinarians are advised to consult with their own attorneys for advice on specific matters. Finally, this information is based on current federal OSHA guidelines. Veterinary practices located in one of the 25 states and territories with OSHA-approved state plans may have to comply with slightly different guidelines.—Kurt J. Matushek, Assistant Editor.

Investigations of fatalities by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) provide the most detailed available information about traumatic workplace deaths that are potentially related to violations of existing safety standards. Comparison of the number of such deaths investigated by OSHA from 1977 to 1986 with the comparable category of deaths reported to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses indicates that the overall magnitudes have been roughly similar. The OSHA data contain more information than other sources and are especially valuable for analyses of fatalities at smaller workplaces. The OSHA data show that death rates decline sharply with establishment size; the inverted "U" pattern for lost workday injury rates is absent. Because accident investigations are conducted as part of an administrative system, the OSHA data can be influenced by changes in administrative policies. Changes over time in the percent of fatalities in which violations of OSHA standards were cited have clearly been influenced by changes in OSHA citation policy and thus do not provide a valid measure of the rate of violation-caused deaths. Realization of the epidemiological value of this data source depends upon a commitment from OSHA to maintain consistency in investigating accidents and to improve its data collection methods.

The global energy sector operates within a complex regulatory environment shaped by Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) frameworks that aim to protect both human health and the environment while enhancing operational efficiency. This study examines the key HSE regulatory frameworks implemented across various regions and their impact on operational practices in the energy sector. By analyzing regulations such as the European Union’s REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals) and the United States' OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standards, alongside other national and international policies, the paper identifies the critical aspects of HSE regulations and their influence on risk management, safety protocols, environmental sustainability, and business performance. The findings highlight that while stringent HSE regulations contribute to reducing operational risks and enhancing corporate social responsibility, they may also increase compliance costs and operational complexities. The paper argues that a well-structured HSE framework can lead to improved long-term operational efficiency by reducing accidents, optimizing resource utilization, and enhancing sustainability practices. However, the balance between compliance and cost-effectiveness remains a significant challenge for energy companies operating in diverse regulatory environments. Recommendations are provided for harmonizing regulations and fostering innovation in compliance strategies to support sustainable development and enhanced operational efficiency.

On March 6, 1992, the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its much-needed standard for protecting workers from occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens. According to the US Labor Department, this final standard will protect more than 5.6 million workers. Organisms causing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) are carried in the blood and other bodily fluids, representing a significant risk of infection to healthcare workers. Each year, 5,900 to 7,400 healthcare workers contract hepatitis B, causing the deaths of as many as 300. By May 5, 1992, each institution was required by OSHA to develop its own exposure control plan to implement these standards. The care of ostomies (ie, colostomies and ileostomies) provides potential exposure to healthcare workers. Therefore, ostomy care protocols should be included in the institution's exposure control plan. The following is offered as a suggestion to assist in the implementation of these OSHA standards, for ostomy care. Due to age, deteriorating health, or physical limitations, some ostomy patients in various healthcare settings may not be able to maintain self-care practices. Therefore, the responsiblity for daily emptying of ostomy pouches is transferred to the healthcare staff. Most facilities use one-piece drainable pouches for management of fecal ostomies. In view of the OSHA standards, this traditional management method may not provide optimum exposure protection to the healthcare giver. In fact, emptying, washing, and reusing ostomy pouches can sometimes increase the exposure risk. Not only is the bedside caregiver affected, but so is the housekeeping epartment because housekeeping staff must deal with accidental spillage and stool splash around toilets, trash cans, and bed linens. In many instances, these one-piece pouches are simply removed and replaced daily. Such practices can result in skin-stripping of the patient's peristomal skin. Because these more expensive pouches are not designed for daily removal, this method of management could increase costs to the facility. In most states, Medicare B has limits on the number of drainable pouches covered in a month. A two-piece, closed-end disposable pouching system provides an alternative to a one-piece drainable pouch because it does not require emptying. Sally Matson, of ET Nursing Services, Inc., Jacksonville, Florida, states, With the ongoing need for Universal Precautions regarding all bodily fluids, closed-end pouches allow less exposure to bodily fluids and waste, and therefore reduce the chances of contamination of healthcare personnel. A two-piece, closed-end pouching system consists of a body-side skin-barrier wafer with an integral flange, which allows the closed-end pouch to be removed and discarded according to the institution's exposure control plan. A clean pouch can be reapplied without risking the skin-stripping effects of frequent pouch removal. Matson further states, Closed-end pouches with gas relief filters eliminates the need to 'burp' the pouches to release gas, a procedure necessary with drainable pouches. This decreases the possibility of accidental pouch 'pop-offs' due to overfilling of gas. Any type of stool

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 1 in 3 adults suffer from hearing loss. The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) further provides that 24% of U.S. workers hearing loss is caused by occupational exposure. To prevent hearing loss, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recommends that workers not be exposed to sounds at or greater than 85 decibels (dBA) for 8 hours. Abrasive blast nozzles, however, can produce noise levels upward of 115dBA, for which OSHA sets a max safe exposure time of just 15 minutes per day. Leveraging cutting edge advancements in jet engine technology, new Blast Ninja abrasive nozzle designs can now reduce noise by up to 17dB, an approximate 50× reduction in sound power, when compared with conventional venturi nozzles of the same bore size. Blast Ninja nozzles accomplish this by reducing the nozzle air exit velocity and sound pressure level, while preserving particle velocity to maintain equal abrasive power. The difference in noise exposure enables operators to be safer and more productive, diminishes operator fatigue, and minimizes employer liability. Furthermore, whereas NIOSH estimates a $100 per dBA of savings when purchasing quieter products, such improvements in acoustical performance can also translate to employer cost savings. The efficacy of Blast Ninja nozzles was evaluated by Oceanit and 3rd party industry partners interested in use or distribution of the nozzles for the industry. This paper explores the efficacy of such nozzles, and details their performance in different conditions, with different blasting setups, with different abrasives, and on different surfaces.

Introduction: Noise pollution in the operating room (OR) poses a threat to both patients and providers. Sound levels often exceed recommended standards set forth by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The purpose of this project was to examine current evidence and implement education for student registered nurse anesthetists (SRNAs) regarding noise pollution in the OR. The education module emphasized the effect of increased noise levels on the delivery of an anesthetic, with a focus on resultant sequelae. Methods: A literature review produced 117 articles, of which thirty-five were included for analysis. Systematic reviews, randomized and non-randomized control trials, cohort studies, case studies, qualitative studies and expert opinion were all considered. A research based education module was delivered to SRNAs. A pre-test and post-test methodology was utilized to assess the efficacy of the education module for SRNAs. Analysis of Results: Results generated from the education module illustrate a knowledge deficient of student registered nurse anesthetists pertaining to noise reduction, cognitive demand, and attention allocation. Post-test scores (M=90%) for SRNAs who completed the education module were significantly greater than pre-test scores (M=60%). t(39)= 10.1, p = 1.88 x 10-12. Recommendations for Practice: Noise pollution is a complex, multifactorial problem. The physical, psychological and emotional effects of noise pollution are the inability to critically think, impaired team communication, chronic hearing loss, increased incidence of cardiovascular disease, and medical error. Emphasis placed on sustaining and integrating noise reduction education into curriculum schemas of nurse anesthesia programs is prudent. Educational content delivered to all anesthesia providers and the interdisciplinary care team in the operating room would be a comprehensive plan. Although several national initiatives are in place to reduce noise, it is imperative that knowledge is shared and interventions implemented to protect both provider and patient. Furthermore, there should be a collaboration amongst a variety of surgical specialties to continue research pertaining to the production of noise in the operating room. Keywords: Anesthesia, Noise, Noise pollution, Operating room, Occupational safety

This paper demonstrates that current standards used by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to establish an area free from potential beryllium contamination may be inadequate. Using the Beryllium Antibody Assay, it was shown that workers exposed to former beryllium work areas, thought to be sanitized and to meet OSHA standards, experienced statistically significant rises in blood beryllium antibody titers. This finding raises the question of whether the equipment currently required to protect workers in beryllium-laden environments is sufficient. The project mission of decommissioning/decontaminating the former nuclear weapons plant at Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (RFETS), instituted in 1992, has necessitated development of new technology directed toward safe and responsible cleanup. Challenges have been posed not only by the need to dispose of radioactive and chemical waste, but also by the problem of cleaning up hazardous metals such as the element beryllium. Beryllium was used extensively in research and the manufacture of nuclear weapons components at Rocky Flats for over 40 years. Since inhalation of this element can induce chronic beryllium disease (Eisenbud and Lisson, 1983), an antibody assay was developed to screen workers for internal exposure to beryllium. Exposure is indicated by a titer of antibodies greater than two standard deviations above a normal population control (defined as the mean titer of pooled samples from 51 individuals with no known exposure to beryllium) and a p-value of < 0.05. This paper describes two new applications for the assay: risk assessment and health surveillance. Case study 1 involves a team of three workers who cleaned a beryllium plenum and whose beryllium antibody titers provided a quantitative assessment of their exposure. Case study 2 describes the use of the antibody assay to determine the probable manner in which one worker was exposed to beryllium while performing his duties as an architectural engineer.

Noise is a harmful factor that poses a threat to the health of workers in many professions in the maritime industry. Domestic labour protection legislation provides effective tools for regulating the parameters of industrial noise [1]. At the same time, objective processes of globalization of the world economy, integration of Ukraine into the global system of labour division increasingly require knowledge and application of international standards in the field of occupational health. In particular, this becomes relevant in the course of training specialists to work on ships of foreign shipping companies. From a hygienic point of view, noise is any unwanted sound or sound that does not carry useful information. In turn, sound, as a physical phenomenon, is a fluctuation in the pressure or density of a continuous medium, in particular air. Sound is characterized by the following physical parameters. Sound frequency ‒ the human auditory analyser perceives sound vibrations with a frequency ranging from 16 to 20 ·103 Hz. Sound intensity ‒ the work performed by a sound wave per unit time, referred to a unit of surface area normal to the direction of propagation of the sound wave, W/m2. Sound pressure is the root-mean-square value of atmospheric pressure that changes as a result of the passage of a sound wave, Pa. However, the use of absolute values of sound intensity or sound pressure in practical acoustics is unacceptable due to the action of the basic psychophysical law of Weber-Fechner, which forces the use of relative logarithmic parameters: logarithmic intensity level and logarithmic sound pressure level (SPL), which are measured in relative logarithmic units ‒ decibels (dB). The latter parameter is the main standardized parameter of industrial noise in domestic legislation, and the main hygienic principle of standardization is the limitation of sound pressure levels for different categories of work. Unlike domestic legislation, international legislation uses an approach that consists in standardizing the exposure dose, i.e. the sound pressure level in combination with the duration of exposure. In particular, this approach is the basis of the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard [2]. This standard establishes the relationship between the sound pressure level and the permissible noise exposure in tabular form and in the form of mathematical relation- ships containing exponential and logarithmic operands and are quite inconvenient for practical use ‒ determining the admissibility of working conditions. The task is compli- cated in proportion to the number of periods with different noise levels during the work shift. In view of this, it seems advisable to develop a computer program to automate calculations related to the application of the OSHA 29 CFR 1910.95 standard, what is the subject of this paper.

Workers in the residential construction industry face unacceptably high risk of injury, disability and death. Attempts to implement comprehensive health and safety programs in this industry have met with little success. The HomeSafe Pilot Program is a novel residential construction safety program developed and sponsored by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Region VIII and the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Denver (HBA). Test subjects represent over 7475 persons employed in residential construction in the six county Denver Metro area of Colorado. The HomeSafe Pilot Program includes primary behavioral, engineering and administrative interventions to improve safe work practices in residential construction. It has some unique features of brevity, specificity and incentives not seen elsewhere in the construction industry. Its overall goal is to guide residential construction companies along a path of progressive development of comprehensive safety and health programs. The HomeSafe Pilot Program is introduced and compared to other safety and health program models developed by OSHA and the HBA. This study began in January 1997 and will continue through the millennium.

In most industrial activity, employee work routines vary from one day to another or from week to week. The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), recognizing this fact, has specified that an employee's long‐term noise exposure should be expressed as a summation of partial exposures to varying sound levels. A technique has been developed that analyzes employee movement, breaking an average day into a series of locations or activities, each with an associated time duration. Sound level data are then acquired for each location or activity. A computer is then used to calculate the partial exposure, as defined by any criterion, for each location or activity and these are summed to express the overall exposure level for each employee job function. The computer also generates a list of noise control priorities and the minimum amount of noise reduction required at each location to achieve compliance with the selected criterion. Maximum priority is given to the location which, when attenuated, will give most benefit to most employees. Determining these minimum reduction levels is most important, as the cost and feasibility of noise control are directly related to the amount of reduction required.

GASWAT-PC is a microcomputer material balance program that calculates original gas in place (OGIP) from production history for gas reservoirs with or without water influx. Several well-known analytical techniques, and some extensions and improvements, are applied to a single input data set. The output for each method is given in both tabular and graphical form. GASWAT-PC also has the capability to predict reservoir pressure and recovery efficiency for a specified production rate if OGIP and aquifer properties are known. An option is included to account for the effect of a large pressure gradient in the water-invaded region. Case studies illustrate the application of GASWAT-PC to an abnormally pressured reservoir and to two water drive reservoirs. Finally, we compare the pressure performance predicted by a numerical simulator and by GASWAT-PC for a water drive reservoir with a high dip.

ObjectiveAutomated air‐conduction pure‐tone audiograms through Bayesian estimation and machine learning (ML) classification have recently been proposed in the literature. Although such ML‐based audiometry approaches represent a significant addition to the field, they remain unsuited for daily clinical settings, in particular for listeners with asymmetric or conductive hearing loss, severe hearing loss, or cochlear dead zones. The goal here is to expand on previously proposed ML approaches and assess the performance of this improved ML audiometry for a large sample of listeners with a wide range of hearing status.MethodsFirst, we describe the changes made to the ML method through the addition of: (1) safety limits to test listeners with a wide range of hearing status, (2) transient responses to cater for cochlear dead zones or nonmeasurable thresholds, and importantly, (3) automated contralateral masking to test listeners with asymmetric or conductive hearing loss. Next, we compared the performance of this improved ML audiometry with conventional and manual audiometry in a large cohort (n = 109 subjects) of both normal‐hearing and hearing‐impaired listeners.ResultsOur results showed that for all audiometric frequencies tested, no significant difference was found between hearing thresholds obtained using manual audiometry on a clinical audiometer as compared to both the manual and automated improved ML methods. Furthermore, the test–retest difference was not significant with the automated improved ML method for each audiometric frequency tested. Finally, when examining cross‐clinic reliability measures, significant differences were found for most audiometric frequencies tested.ConclusionsTogether, our results validate the use of this improved ML‐based method in adult clinical tests for air‐conduction audiometry.

Introduction: Noise is a health risk that cannot be avoided in production process. Noise has the potential to cause hearing loss for workers. The bad news, noise damage due to noise is permanent. Audiometric screening at shipyard company employees found 81.2% experienced Sensory-Neural Hearing Loss. 61.5% of employees experience deafness in both ears. The research objective was to find the cause of deafness at shipyard company. Methods: A Quantitative research with cross sectional approach in 64 subjects who worked in the ship repair production unit. The sample is chosen with a simple random technique according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Assessment was carried out using questionnaires, measurement, and direct observations. Result: The bad habit of wearing ear protectors on employees as a cause of deafness (p&lt;.001, Coef .517**). Sound level measurement shows the activity of chipping, welding, cutting and outfitting with noise intensity more than the recommended threshold (85 dBA for 8 hour per day). Noisy sources were found such as blowers, compressors, grinders, cutting mach ines, ringlet machines, hammer blows on plates and generators. Conclusion: Hearing loss in shipyard company employees is a work-related disease caused by the poor culture of wearing ear protectors. The habits does not wear earplug/earmuff tools because its not comfortable in the ear when the appliance is used, the tools too small so its easily lost, forgetten to carry, and tool are not available.