EH&S and University Health Services (UHS) together administer a Hearing Conservation Program designed to protect faculty, staff and students from hearing loss due to exposure to loud noise, i.e., exposure to noise above 85 decibels as an eight-hour time-weighted average.
The Hearing Conservation Program includes:
- Workplace and personal exposure monitoring
- Annual audiometric (hearing) tests
- Annual training on the hazards of noise, purpose of audiometric testing, and proper use of hearing protection
- Hearing protection devices (ear plugs or ear muffs) made available where needed
You may need to be enrolled in the Hearing Conservation Program if you work in any area where you have to raise your voice to be understood at arm's length. If you feel your work area may have unhealthy levels of noise, contact EH&S at (510) 642-3073 so that noise monitoring can be conducted. If excessive noise is detected, EH&S will prepare recommendations for your department to try to reduce the noise levels. If sufficient noise reductions are not feasible, you will receive audiometric testing and training at UHS (Tang Center), and hearing protectors will be made available to you free of cost.