Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard:

29 CFR 1910.95(c)(1): The employer shall administer a continuing, effective hearing conservation program, as described in paragraphs (c) through (o) of this section, whenever employee noise exposures equal or exceed an 8-hour time-weighted average sound level (TWA) of 85 decibels measured on the A scale (slow response) or, equivalently, a dose of fifty percent. At the work site, the employer had not established and implemented an effective hearing conservation program per the requirements of 1910.95 for employees with noise exposures that exceeded the OSHA Action Level of an 8-hour time-weighted average sound level (TWA) of 85 dBA or, equivalently, a noise dose of 50 percent. a. In the Draw Line area, an employee who operated a Tares wire processor was exposed to continuous noise levels above the OSHA Action Level of 85 decibels (dBA) and greater than 50% of the daily noise dose allowed under the standards. The sampling was performed for 477 minutes during one shift on July 21, 2015. Zero exposure was assumed for the unsampled period of time, 3 minutes. The employee's noise dose was 106.1 % with an equivalent dBA of approximately 90.4 dBA. b. In the Roll Form area, an employee who worked as a Team Lead was exposed to continuous noise levels above the OSHA Action Level of 85 decibels (dBA) and greater than 50% of the daily noise dose allowed under the standards. The sampling was performed for 479 minutes during one shift on July 21, 2015. Zero exposure was assumed for the unsampled period of time, 1 minute. The employee's noise dose was 104.3 % with an equivalent dBA of approximately 90.3 dBA. c. In the Wire Room area, an employee who operated the GCR welder was exposed to continuous noise levels above the OSHA Action Level of 85 decibels (dBA) and greater than 50% of the daily noise dose allowed under the standards. The sampling was performed for 480 minutes during one shift on July 21, 2015. The employee's noise dose was 98.3% with an equivalent dBA of approximately 89.9 dBA. d. In the FSO area, an employee who operated a FSO Mesh Welder was exposed to continuous noise levels above the OSHA Action Level of 85 decibels (dBA) and greater than 50% of the daily noise dose allowed under the standards. The sampling was performed for 478 minutes during one shift on July 21, 2015. Zero exposure was assumed for the unsampled period of time, 2 minutes. The employee's noise dose was 111.2% with an equivalent dBA of approximately 90.7 dBA. e. In the Ideal Welder area, an employee who operated the Ideal 10 Welder was exposed to continuous noise levels above the OSHA Action Level of 85 decibels (dBA) and greater than 50% of the daily noise dose allowed under the standards. The sampling was performed for 475 minutes during one shift on July 21, 2015. Zero exposure was assumed for the unsampled period of time, 5 minutes. The employee's noise dose was 77.7% with an equivalent dBA of approximately 88.1 dBA. f. In the Accurshear area, an employee who operated the Accurshear was exposed to continuous noise levels above the OSHA Action Level of 85 decibels (dBA) and greater than 50% of the daily noise dose allowed under the standards. The sampling was performed for 479 minutes during one shift on July 21, 2015. Zero exposure was assumed for the unsampled period of time, 1 minute. The employee's noise dose was 70.6% with an equivalent dBA of approximately 87.4 dBA.