Understand your responsibilities for audiometric testing
Recent changes to the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 have made it a requirement of employers to provide audiometric testing for workers who use personal protective equipment due to the risk of hearing loss associated with noise that exceeds the exposure standards for noise.
When sound is unwanted it is often called ‘noise’. It is measured in decibels and becomes hazardous when it exceeds the workplace exposure standards. A business must ensure workers are not exposed to noise that exceeds the exposure standard.
The exposure standard for noise is defined in the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011.
Audiometric testing requirements apply to workers in all industries and workplaces where a Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) requires a worker to use hearing protection against noise which exceeds the exposure standard.
The PCBU must provide audiometric testing for the worker:
- within three months of the worker commencing the work, and
- in any event, at least every two years.
Audiometric testing is a painless, non-invasive test that measures the softest sound a person can hear across a range of different frequencies. This type of testing is used to detect a person’s ability to hear tones at various frequencies and volumes, one ear at a time.
More information
To download your copy of the communications kit, and for further information about audiometric testing go to: