What happens in a workplace hearing test?

Before the test

The technician asks a few quick questions: the worker's name and employer, the kind of noise they work in, whether they wear hearing protection, and whether they have had ear problems or a recent loud exposure. This history goes on the record with the results so year-to-year changes can be read properly.

In the booth

The worker sits in a sound-insulated booth inside the truck. The technician places the headphones on them and removes them afterwards. The headphones are a calibrated part of the audiometer, and the result depends on them sitting exactly right, so we do not leave that to chance. There are two booths, so two workers are tested at the same time, with the technician outside at the audiometers.

The test is pure-tone audiometry. The audiometer plays tones at set pitches, from low to high, one ear at a time. Each tone starts quiet and gets a little louder until the worker hears it and presses the button. The quietest level they respond to at each pitch is their threshold for that pitch. There is nothing to get right or wrong; the worker only has to press when they hear something.

The audiogram

The results are plotted on an audiogram: pitch across the bottom, loudness down the side. A normal result sits near the top. Noise damage usually shows first as a dip at 3,000, 4,000 or 6,000 Hz, well before the worker notices any change in conversation. Because we test the same worker every year, the audiogram from last year sits beside this year's, and any shift is obvious.

Results explained, not just filed

When the test is done the technician walks the worker through their audiogram: what it shows, how it compares with last year, and what it means for how they protect their hearing. Workers tell us this is often the first time anyone has explained it. That conversation is also where custom earplugs come up if disposable ones are not being worn.

What the employer receives

• Results submitted to WorkSafeBC, as the Regulation requires
• A summary sheet of everyone tested, for your hearing conservation program file
• Flags on any individuals who may need a follow-up from your safety manager, so nothing gets missed
• A list of anyone absent, so they can be tested at our Surrey office or on a return visit

What you need to prepare

• A list of the workers to be tested and their shifts
• A level area for the truck, as close as possible to where workers enter and exit. The shorter the walk, the less time anyone spends away from their work.
• Someone on the floor to send workers out two at a time

That is all. Where possible, workers should avoid very loud exposure right before their test.