Hearing conservation is an important objective in overall employee health at Iowa State University. The major goal is to reduce continuous noise levels below a Time Weighted Average (TWA) of 90 decibels by implementing reasonably feasible engineering and administrative controls.
Noisy work environments
If an employee works in a noisy environment (must yell to communicate when less than three feet from others), call EH&S at (515) 294-5359 to arrange noise monitoring.
If noise levels are found to exceed the OSHA "action level" of 85 decibels (dBA) averaged over an eight-hour work day, the exposed employee must participate in the Hearing Conservation Program as outlined in the Hearing Conservation Manual (PDF).