Hearing Conservation Programme resources online

A new expanded website provides a wide range of resources to help safety officers and industrial hygienists implement better hearing conservation programmes worldwide

The Bacou-Dalloz Hearing Safety Group website has recently been expanded to provide a wide range of resources to help safety officers and industrial hygienists implement better hearing conservation programmes worldwide.

In the Hearing Conservation section, users can find information on global hearing conservation regulations, as well as posters, presentations, literature and other tools to help design, set up and conduct people-oriented hearing conservation programmes.

"Despite many years of regulation, the incidence of noise-induced hearing loss continues to rise," said Renee Bessette, COHC, Senior Marketing/Communications Specialist for the company: "We believe that successful hearing conservation programmes require an active outreach to employees -- the people who actually wear hearing protection devices and suffer the consequences if they don't -- and our intent with the website is to provide managers with a one-stop, evolving resource to improve their hearing conservation programming efforts".

The free resources available are specific to the Americas, Europe and Australia/New Zealand, and include regional regulatory information and links; technical information on hearing conservation topics and protection devices; and programming tools including literature, posters and presentations.

It also offers a number of hearing conservation programme aids for download, including a Noise Thermometer Poster, Earplug and Earmuff Instruction Posters, an OSHA Regulation Poster, a poster on "The 4 Cs of Hearing Protection" and a PowerPoint presentation on Hearing Conservation Basics which can be used for training purposes.

Other downloads include a Hearing Glossary and hearing conservation literature.

Many items are available both in English and Spanish.

Regulatory information includes the "What You Need to Hear" brochure outlining recent changes in the EU Hearing Directive and providing advice on the new action levels; answers to common questions; and a glossary of basic terms related to the Directive.

The Americas regulatory section offers an OSHA Regulation Poster and links to OSHA regulations as well as other federal health and safety organization resources related to noise in the workplace.

The Australia/New Zealand regulatory section includes information and links relating to the AS/NZS 1269:2005 Standard, "Occupational Noise Management".

Technical information is available in a series of "Sound Source" bulletins, short articles designed to address the questions and concerns of safety professionals engaged in the development and implementation of hearing conservation programmes.

Authored by expert hearing conservationists and edited by noted hearing conservation authority Brad Witt, Sound Source issues cover such topics as: "Understanding Ratings" which describes the various ratings listed on hearing protection device (HPD) packaging, including NRR, SNR, SLC80, and CSA; "How NRR is Calculated", an overview of the laboratory testing and mathematical calculations required by ANSI S3.19-1974 to determine Noise Reduction Ratings; and "A- and C-Weighted Noise Measurements", which explores these different sensitivity scales for noise measurement.

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