An employer shall protect employees who are exposed to excessive noise from the adverse health effects of noise.

Every place of work shall implement a comprehensive Hearing Conservation Program (HCP), to prevent ONRHD (Occupational Noise Related Hearing Disorder) among its employees over their entire working lifetimes.

An  effective  HCP  can  eliminate  or  minimize  noise  hazard  and  prevent ONRHD.

Full commitment by the management and active involvement by the workers are critical for the success of the HCP.

An  employer  shall  appoint  a  HCA  to assist  the  employer  to manage,  make  decisions, correct  deficiencies  and  enforce  necessary  actions  in  implementing  the  HCP,  which includes  but  not  limited  to,  policies,  procedures,  noise  risk  assessment,  audiometric testing, training, noise controls, record keeping and program reviews.

The HCP shall be reviewed once a year to ensure its effectiveness.

Objective of Hearing Conservation Program

The objective of the HCP is to minimize the risk associated with excessive noise exposure and to prevent ONRHD by:

• Identifying the noise hazard and evaluating the risk involved;
• Implementing noise reduction measures,   such   as   engineering   control and administrative control;
• Providing suitable PHP (Personal Hearing Protectrors) and ensuring the proper use of the PHP by persons exposed to excessive noise;
• Training and educating persons involved in the HCP to raise their awareness of noise hazard;
• Conducting audiometric testing for detecting ONRHD;
• Keeping records of the measures taken to protect employees from noise hazard; and
• Evaluating the HCP to determine its effectiveness and identifying areas   for improvements.

 

Components in Hearing Conservation Program

There are five (5) components in HCP that comprises of:

(a) Noise risk assessment;

(b) Noise reduction measures; Noise reduction measures to be implemented at the place of work are based on the results of noise risk assessment and shall include:-

(i)           Engineering control;
(ii)          Administrative control;
(iii)         Personal hearing protectors (PHP)

(c) Audiometric testing;

(d) Information, instruction and training; and

(e) Record keeping.