Statutes, codes, and regulations
Washington Administrative Code
Title 296 - Labor and Industries, Department of
Chapter 296-27 - Recordkeeping and reporting
Section 296-27-061 - Nonmandatory Appendix A - Age adjustment calculations for comparing audiograms for recording hearing loss

Wash. Admin. Code § 296-27-061

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Current through Register Vol. 24-23, December 1, 2024
Section 296-27-061 - Nonmandatory Appendix A - Age adjustment calculations for comparing audiograms for recording hearing loss

These computations may only be used for comparison of audiograms to record hearing loss on the OSHA 300 Log. This appendix is non-mandatory.

(1)In determining whether a recordable threshold shift has occurred, allowance may be made for the contribution of aging to the change in hearing level by adjusting the most recent audiogram. If you choose to adjust the audiogram, you must follow the procedure described below. This procedure and the age correction tables were developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in the criteria document entitled "Criteria for a Recommended Stan-dard&Occupational Exposure to Noise," ((HSM)-11001).
(2)For each audiometric test frequency:
(a) Determine from Tables A-1 or A-2 the age correction values for the employee by:
(i) Finding the age at which the most recent audiogram was taken and recording the corresponding values of age corrections at 1000 Hz through 6000 Hz;
(ii) Finding the age at which the baseline audio-gram was taken and recording the corresponding values of age corrections at 1000 Hz through 6000 Hz.
(b) Subtract the values found in step (a)(ii) from the value found in step (a)(i).
(c) The differences calculated in step (b) represent that portion of the change in hearing that may be due to aging.

EXAMPLE: Employee is a 32-year-old male. The audio-metric history for his right ear is shown in decibels below.

Audiometric Test Frequency (Hz)
Employee's age 1000 2000 3000 4000 6000
26 10 5 5 10 5
*27 0 0 0 5 5
28 0 0 0 10 5
29 5 0 5 15 5
30 0 5 10 20 10
31 5 10 20 15 15
*32 5 10 10 25 20

The audiogram at age 27 is considered the baseline since it shows the best hearing threshold levels. Asterisks have been used to identify the baseline and most recent audiogram. A threshold shift of 20 dB exists at 4000 Hz between the audiograms taken at ages 27 and 32.

(The threshold shift is computed by subtracting the hearing threshold at age 27, which was 5, from the hearing threshold at age 32, which is 25.) A retest audiogram has confirmed this shift. The contribution of aging to this change in hearing may be estimated in the following manner:

Go to Table A-1 and find the age correction values (in dB) for 4000 Hz at age 27 and age 32.

Frequency (Hz)
1000 2000 3000 4000 6000
Age 32 6 5 7 10 14
Age 27 5 4 6 7 11
Difference 1 1 1 3 3

The difference represents the amount of hearing loss that may be attributed to aging in the time period between the baseline audiogram and the most recent audiogram. In this example, the difference at 4000 Hz is 3 dB. This value is subtracted from the hearing level at 4000 Hz, which in the most recent audiogram is 25, yielding 22 after adjustment. Then the hearing threshold in the baseline audiogram at 4000 Hz (5) is subtracted from the adjusted annual audiogram hearing threshold at 4000 Hz (22). Thus the age-corrected threshold shift would be 17 dB (as opposed to a threshold shift of 20 dB without age correction).

TABLE A-1 - AGE CORRECTION VALUES IN DECIBELS FOR MALES

Audiometric Test Frequency (Hz)
Age 1000 2000 3000 4000 6000
20 or younger 5 3 4 5 8
21 5 3 4 5 8
22 5 3 4 5 8
23 5 3 4 6 9
24 5 3 5 6 9
25 5 3 5 7 10
26 5 4 5 7 10
27 5 4 6 7 11
28 6 4 6 8 11
29 6 4 6 8 12
30 6 4 6 9 12
31 6 4 7 9 13
32 6 5 7 10 14
33 6 5 7 10 14
34 6 5 8 11 15
35 7 5 8 11 15
36 7 5 9 12 16
37 7 6 9 12 17
38 7 6 9 13 17
39 7 6 10 14 18
40 7 6 10 14 19
41 7 6 10 14 20
42 8 7 11 16 20
43 8 7 12 16 21
44 8 7 12 17 22
45 8 7 13 18 23
46 8 8 13 19 24
47 8 8 14 19 24
48 9 8 14 20 25
49 9 9 15 21 26
50 9 9 16 22 27
51 9 9 16 23 28
52 9 10 17 24 29
53 9 10 18 25 30
54 10 10 18 26 31
55 10 11 19 27 32
56 10 11 20 28 34
57 10 11 21 29 35
58 10 12 22 31 36

Audiometric Test Frequency (Hz)
Age 1000 2000 3000 4000 6000
59 11 12 22 32 37
60 or older 11 13 23 33 38

TABLE A-2 - AGE CORRECTION VALUES IN DECIBELS FOR FEMALES

Audiometric Test Frequency (Hz)
Age 1000 2000 3000 4000 6000
20 or younger 7 4 3 3 6
21 7 4 4 3 6
22 7 4 4 4 6
23 7 5 4 4 7
24 7 5 4 4 7
25 8 5 4 4 7
26 8 5 5 4 8
27 8 5 5 5 8
28 8 5 5 5 8
29 8 5 5 5 9
30 8 6 5 5 9
31 8 6 6 5 9
32 9 6 6 6 10
33 9 6 6 6 10
34 9 6 6 6 10
35 9 6 7 7 11
36 9 7 7 7 11
37 9 7 7 7 12
38 10 7 7 7 12
39 10 7 8 8 12
40 10 7 8 8 13
41 10 8 8 8 13
42 10 8 9 9 13
43 11 8 9 9 14
44 11 8 9 9 14
45 11 8 10 10 15
46 11 9 10 10 15
47 11 9 10 11 16
48 12 9 11 11 16
49 12 9 11 11 16
50 12 10 11 12 17
51 12 10 12 12 17
52 12 10 12 13 18
53 13 10 13 13 18
54 13 11 13 14 19
55 13 11 14 14 19
56 13 11 14 15 20
57 13 11 15 15 20
58 14 12 15 16 21
59 14 12 16 16 21
60 or older 14 12 16 17 22

Wash. Admin. Code § 296-27-061

Amended by WSR 15-11-066, Filed 5/19/2015, effective 7/1/2015

Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, 49.17.040, 49.17.050, and 49.17.060. 03-24-085, § 296-27-061, filed 12/2/03, effective 1/1/04.