You must:
• Conduct a baseline audiogram when an employee is first assigned to work involving noise exposures that equal or exceed 85 dBA TWA8.
– Make sure this audiogram is completed no more than one hundred eighty days after the employee is first assigned
or
– Make sure employee is covered by a hearing protection audit program (as described by WAC
296-307-638 and available as an alternative only for employees hired for less than one year).
Note: | Employers who utilize mobile test units are allowed up to one year to obtain a valid baseline audiogram for each exposed employee. The employees must still be given training and hearing protection as required by this part. |
You must:
• Make sure employees are not exposed to workplace noise at least fourteen hours before testing to establish a baseline audiogram.
– Hearing protectors may be used to accomplish this.
• Notify employees of the need to avoid high levels of nonoccupational noise exposure (such as loud music, headphones, guns, power tools, motorcycles, etc.) during the fourteen-hour period immediately preceding the baseline audiometric examination.