Hearing Loss Hazard Assessment - Do We Have It Right?

For almost ten years, the authority for those in the LE.involvad in limiting occupational noise exposure has been the Department of haploymeat's 'Code of Prectice (131130 1972).The fundamental aim of the Code is to reduce the incidence of Noise Induced Hearing 1.055 (mm) by reducingnoise exposure.It is evident that the noise measurement techniques described in the Code are intended to yield indicea or the baring loss hazard rather than to simply be measurements of the noise levels.In this paper it is intended to examine the suihbility of current noise measurenent techniqua as indices.of the hearing loss hazard. Validity of the sssumstions implicit in the Code of PracticeLike any hygiene standard, the Code makes a number of assumptions, the two most important being: a) that an A weighted noise measurement correctly takes account of the relative harmfulnws of the different frequmci to which the ear is sensitive, and