OSHA publishes rule revising recording for work-related hearing loss. (Washington Alert).

OSHA OSHA
n.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a branch of the US Department of Labor responsible for establishing and enforcing safety and health standards in the workplace. issued a final rule in July July: see month. that revises the criteria for recording work-related bearing loss. The agency also is seeking comments on a proposal involving the recording of musculoskeletal disorders Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) can affect the body's muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Most-work related MSDs develop over time and are caused either by the work itself or by the employees' working environment. (MSDs) in its injury and illness logs.

Beginning January 1, employers will be required to record work-related hearing loss cases when an employee's hearing test shows a marked decrease in overall hearing. Under the new rule, the criteria will record 10-decibel shifts from the employee's initial hearing test when they also result in an overall hearing level of 25 decibels. The old criteria recorded 25-decibel shifts. Employers will be able to make adjustments for hearing loss caused by aging and will be able to seek the advice of a physician to determine whether the hearing loss is hearing-related and perform additional hearing tests to verify (1) To prove the correctness of data.

(2) In data entry operations, to compare the keystrokes of a second operator with the data entered by the first operator to ensure that the data were typed in accurately. See validate. the persistence (1) In a CRT, the time a phosphor dot remains illuminated after being energized. Long-persistence phosphors reduce flicker, but generate ghost-like images that linger on screen for a fraction of a second. of the hearing loss.

In a second issue, OSHA is seeking public comments on a proposed one-year delay of the recordkeeping rule's definition of MSDs, and whether' to include MSDs and hearing loss columns on the OSHA Form 300 Log of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. Detailed information on the changes to the agency's recordkeeping rule is, available on OSHA's web site at www.osha.gov.

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Title Annotation:	Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Comment:	OSHA publishes rule revising recording for work-related hearing loss. (Washington Alert).(Occupational Safety and Health Administration)
Publication:	Modern Casting
Article Type:	Brief Article
Geographic Code:	1USA
Date:	Sep 1, 2002
Words:	203
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Topics:	Hearing loss Laws, regulations and rules Labor policy Workplace accidents Laws, regulations and rules

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