We are excited to have you join us for an amazing educational line up, check out the agenda below for the 2025 Conference. Please note that this agenda is subject to change.
Subjective methods to conduct hearing protector fit testing and booth-less audiometry assess hearing thresholds for unoccluded and occluded conditions. During a 2012 NIOSH field evaluation of hearing protection fit testing with HPD Well-Fit™, workers’ personal attenuation ratings (PAR) were tested in four locations (two conference rooms and two small offices). During testing, the ambient noise levels were captured every ten seconds and the timestamps for each threshold identification were recorded with 1-second resolution. The clocks on the computers and the sound level meters were synchronized prior to commencing the field study. The one-third-octave-band noise levels from 20 to 20,000 Hz were logged and compared with the hearing thresholds measured at 500, 1,000, and 2,000 Hz. Ambient background noise may have masked the 500 Hz thresholds for the unoccluded ears more than the thresholds for 1,000 and 2,000 Hz. This paper will consider the potential effects on the overall three-frequency PAR and propose methods to monitor ambient noise.
Learning Objectives: 1. Explain the effects of ambient background noise on hearing tests for fit-testing and boothless audiometry and measurement techniques to assess and analyze ambient background noise. 2. Describe a case study where background noise was measured during the course a study on hearing protector fit testing. 3. Apply measurements of background noise to determine whether their hearing tests may have been affected by masking due to elevated background noise.
