Posted: December 1, 2003

The American Academy of Audiology has recently published a position statement, Preventing Noise-Induced Occupational Hearing Loss. The statement recommends hearing loss prevention strategies and professional practices to more than 8,000 audiologists. Its principal statement of belief is, "No one needs to lose his or her hearing in order to earn a living." Specific principles addressed by the position statement include: (1) using a 3-dB exchange rate to compute noise exposure, (2) recommending a permissible exposure limit of 85 dBA TWA, (3) adhering to current ANSI standard for background noise levels during audiometric testing, and (4) recommending 8000 Hz be included as a test frequency.

For more information on the new AAA position statement go to: http://www.audiology.org/publications/documents/positions/Hearingconservation/.