Me. Petrick et al., COMPARISON OF DAILY NOISE EXPOSURES IN ONE WORKPLACE BASED ON NOISE CRITERIA RECOMMENDED BY ACGIH AND OSHA, American Industrial Hygiene Association journal, 57(10), 1996, pp. 924-928
The objective of this study was to determine the impact of the new Ame
rican Conference of Governmental industrial Hygienists (ACGIH(new)) no
ise criteria, as compared to the current U.S. Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) hearing conservation criteria, on the num
ber of employees to be included in the hearing conservation program at
one industrial facility. This study also compares the combined effect
s of a 3-dB versus a 5-dB exchange rate and an 80-dBA versus a 90-dBA
measurement threshold on daily noise doses and equivalent 8-hr time-we
ighted averages (TWAs). Employee noise exposures were measured using p
aired Ametek MK-3 noise dosimeters, one dosimeter set to the ACGIH(new
) noise criteria and one to the present OSHA hearing conservation crit
eria. Samples were collected over 4-hr periods (half-shifts) for 50 em
ployees in 7 job categories. Results indicate that the majority of the
employees' exposures fell below an 8-hr TWA(OSHA) of 85 dBA. The diff
erences between the predicted TWA(ACGIHnew) and the TWA(OSHA) ranged b
etween 0.2 and 12.6 dB for paired samples, with an average difference
of 4.6 dB. Overall, these differences in employee 8-hr TWAs would proj
ect a 36% increase in the percent of the population enrolled in the he
aring conservation program and a 50% increase in the percent of the po
pulation required to wear hearing protection.