The Mission of CAOHC is to promote the conservation of hearing by enhancing the quality of occupational hearing conservation programs.

What are CAOHC's objectives and accomplishments?
The Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation's (CAOHC) main objective is to provide education, information and guidance to industry and those serving industry regarding the successful implementation of an occupational hearing conservation program. It seeks to prevent occupational hearing loss.
Click here for a detailed listing of CAOHC's accomplishments.

What is CAOHC's history?
Its roots began with the Intersociety Committee on guidelines for noise exposure control in the mid 1960s. At that time, the organizational members consisted of the American Academy of Occupational Medicine (AAOM), the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology (AAOO), the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), and the American Industrial Medical Association (AIMA). In a 1970 report the committee developed guidelines for the evaluation of the hazards of noise, exposure control methods, planning hazard-free operations, and audiometry. When the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) noise standard was being promulgated in the early 1970s, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) contacted the Intersociety Committee for input. The Committee has been active ever since, changing its name and makeup to the current CAOHC in 1973.

CAOHC was created to fill the need for guidelines and standards in the field of occupational hearing conservation. CAOHC's mix of disciplines was felt to be the best manner in which to assure that reasonable and effective guidelines would be developed and used.

Who is the CAOHC Council comprised of?
The CAOHC Council consists of two representatives from each of the following organizations:

• American Academy of Audiology (AAA)
• American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS)
• American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN)
• American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM)
• American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
• American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE)
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
• Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the United States of America (INCE/USA)
• Military Audiology Association (MAA)

How may CAOHC be contacted?

CAOHC
555 E. Wells St., Suite 1100
Milwaukee, WI 53202-3823
phone 414/276-5338
fax 414/276-2146
e-mail info@caohc.org