Coalition Responds to OSHA's Proposed Delay of Occupational Hearing Loss Rule

(Rockville, MD) In response to a proposed one-year delay in the effective date of the final recordkeeping rule concerning occupational hearing loss, the Coalition to Protect Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and Workers' Hearing has filed comments strongly objecting to OSHA's delay in implementing the rule, fearing that OSHA may reconsider the criteria for recording hearing loss.

Earlier this year, the issuance of a final rule represented a major victory for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), which led the 15-year effort by the Coalition to Protect OSHA and NIOSH and Workers' Hearing.

The announcement on the proposed delay in the implementation of the occupational hearing loss rule comes after OSHA received submissions from the American Iron and Steel Institute, American Foundry Society and Organization of Resource Councilors arguing that a standard threshold shift (STS) is not a serious health problem and is not a reliable criterion under real-world testing conditions. The final rule for the Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirements, providing strict criteria for recording hearing loss as an occupational injury, was issued by OSHA in the January 19, 2001 Federal Register on the last day of the Clinton Administration.

Of primary concern to ASHA is OSHA's reconsideration of the criteria for recording hearing loss and the Agency's proposal to delay the effective date of the final rule until January 1, 2003. The final rule, which was scheduled to go into effect January 1, 2002, requires an employer to record any hearing loss that reaches the level of STS--as defined by the occupational noise standard as a 10 dB shift in hearing averaged across 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz in one or both ears compared to the employee's baseline audiogram.

In addition to ASHA, coalition members include the American Industrial Hygiene Association, the National Hearing Conservation Association, the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation, Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc., and the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

For more information, contact Mona Thomas at 301-897-0156 or Mike Rick at 301-897-7351.

ASHA is the national professional scientific and credentialing organization for more than 103,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists.