WAC 296-817-40010
Establish a baseline audiogram for
each exposed employee.
You must:
• Conduct a baseline audiogram when an employee is first
assigned to work involving noise exposures that equal or
exceed 85 dBA TWA8.
– Make sure this audiogram is completed no more than one
hundred eighty days after the employee is first assigned
OR
– Make sure employee is covered by a hearing protection
audit program (as described by WAC 296-817-500 and available
as an alternative only for employees hired for less than one
year).
Note:
Employers who utilize mobile test units are allowed up to one year to obtain a valid baseline audiogram for each
exposed employee. The employees must still be given training and hearing protection as required by this chapter.
You must:
• Make sure employees are not exposed to workplace noise
at least fourteen hours before testing to establish a baseline
audiogram.
– Hearing protectors may be used to accomplish this.
• Notify employees of the need to avoid high levels of
nonoccupational noise exposure (such as loud music,
headphones, guns, power tools, motorcycles, etc.) during the
fourteen-hour period immediately preceding the baseline
audiometric examination.