Noise & Hearing Conservation

Preventing permanent damage. Protecting the people behind the noise.

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) remains one of the most prevalent and entirely preventable occupational diseases in Australia.

In mining, construction, manufacturing and heavy industry, workers are routinely exposed to noise levels that, without proper assessment and management, will cause irreversible damage to their hearing over time. Unlike many workplace injuries, NIHL is cumulative, insidious and permanent – there is no surgical correction, no rehabilitation that restores lost hearing.

RED OHMS Group delivers comprehensive noise assessment and hearing conservation services to protect your workforce and meet your obligations under the Work Health and Safety Regulations and the AS/NZS 1269 series of standards. Our occupational hygienists conduct thorough noise surveys, personal dosimetry and onsite or remote audiometry and help you build hearing conservation programmes that are practical, compliant and genuinely effective.

Under Australian WHS legislation, workers must not be exposed to noise that exceeds 85 dB(A) as an eight-hour time-weighted average (TWA). Where that standard is reached or exceeded, a structured hearing conservation programme – including audiometric testing, hearing protection assessment and ongoing monitoring – is a legal requirement.

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Capabilities

Comprehensive workplace noise surveys using calibrated sound level meters and personal noise dosimeters to map noise zones, identify high-risk tasks and equipment and quantify individual worker exposures.

Baseline and periodic pure-tone audiometry conducted at your site or via remote arrangements, enabling early detection of hearing threshold shifts before significant damage occurs. Records maintained for the required 30-year period.

Evaluation of your current hearing protection devices (HPDs) against actual noise exposures, with objective fit-testing using validated systems (including the 3M E-A-Rfit™ Dual-Ear Validation System) to confirm real-world attenuation.

Systematic profiling of plant and equipment noise outputs to support procurement decisions, maintenance planning and engineering control strategies that reduce noise at the source.

Beyond Compliance: A Genuine Hearing Conservation Programme

Providing hearing protection devices is not, by itself, a hearing conservation programme.

An effective programme integrates noise assessment, worker education, audiometric surveillance, hearing protector selection and fit-testing, engineering and administrative controls and regular programme evaluation. RED OHMS Group can design, implement and review a programme tailored to your site – one that satisfies regulators and, more importantly, actually protects your people.

Our audiometric services are delivered by trained and competent personnel in accordance with AS/NZS 1269.4 requirements. Baseline audiometry is conducted prior to first exposure or within three months of commencement, with annual follow-up testing for all noise-exposed workers. Where a standard threshold shift is identified, we provide guidance on investigation, follow-up and referral pathways.

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FAQs

The national exposure standard is 85 dB(A) as an eight-hour time-weighted average, with a peak noise level of 140 dB(C). Where workers are exposed at or above this level, employers must implement controls and, where hearing protection is required, establish a hearing conservation programme including audiometric surveillance.

Baseline testing should be conducted before or within three months of first exposure to noise at or above the exposure standard. Follow-up testing is required at least annually for all workers enrolled in a hearing conservation programme, with more frequent testing for those with exposures above 100 dB(A) or where a threshold shift has been recorded.

Not necessarily. Laboratory-rated attenuation values for hearing protection devices often differ significantly from the real-world attenuation achieved in the workplace. Fit, condition and consistent use all affect performance. Objective fit-testing is the only way to confirm that an individual worker is receiving adequate protection from their HPD. RED OHMS can conduct fit-testing and advise on appropriate HPD selection for your specific noise environment.