Evaluation of Hearing Conservation Program Effectiveness: Compliance vs. Best Practices

Details

• Personal Author:
  Prince, Mary M.
• Description:
  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has conducted a study examining factors affecting hearing conservation program (HCP) effectiveness in three manufacturing plants. The study purpose was to develop methods for evaluating hearing conservation programs and to identify predictors of program effectiveness. The presentation will illustrate how focus groups, comprised of line workers and supervisors, were used to clarify and augment information gathered through more traditional program assessments (paper audits, interviews with HCP administrators) at three plants to provide a more enriched picture of hearing conservation practices. Results indicate that exclusive reliance on such practices as policy review, audiometric testing audits, and noise surveillance to evaluate the effectiveness of workplace hearing conservation programs fails to capture the impact of these programs as experienced by workers at the "shop floor" and offers little insight into the reasons and potential remedies for noted deficiencies. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Engineering Hearing Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Engineering-controls Hearing-conservation Hearing-disorders Hearing-impairment Hearing-loss Hearing-protection Noise-control Occupational-safety-programs Training
• ISSN:
  1083-7388
• Publisher:
  National Hearing Conservation Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  23
• Volume:
  20
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20024095
• Citation:
  Spectrum 2003 Feb; 20(1):23
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Hearing Loss
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Spectrum: the National Hearing Conservation Association newsletter
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:425a9105bd11f2b1a7cc70bc7ed308e777d8801cef2edb8b4b60b7226e865ef6cbf047a17891c1cd09eb250c551db6c577566066dbaf872417f202651f6071eb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/196081/cdc_196081_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 130.77 KB ]