Appendix E to Part 227 - Use of Insert Earphones for Audiometric Testing
49:4.1.1.1.21.4.15.1.46 : Appendix E
Appendix E to Part 227 - Use of Insert Earphones for Audiometric
Testing
This appendix is mandatory.
Section 227.111(d) allows railroads to use insert earphones for
audiometric testing. Railroads are not required to use insert
earphones, however, where they elect to use insert earphones, they
must comply with the requirements of this appendix.
I. Acceptable Fit
A. The audiologist, otolaryngologist, or other physician
responsible for conducting the audiometric testing, shall identify
ear canals that prevent achievement of an acceptable fit with
insert earphones, or shall assure that any technician under his/her
authority who conducts audiometric testing with insert earphones
has the ability to identify such ear canals.
B. Technicians who conduct audiometric tests must be trained to
insert the earphones correctly into the ear canals of test subjects
and to recognize conditions where ear canal size prevents
achievement of an acceptable insertion depth (fit).
C. Insert earphones shall not be used for audiometric testing of
employees with ear canal sizes that prevent achievement of an
acceptable insertion depth (fit).
II. Proper Use
The manufacturer's guidelines for proper use of insert earphones
must be followed.
III. Audiometer Calibration
A. Audiometers used with insert earphones must be calibrated in
accordance with ANSI S3.6-2004, “Specification for Audiometers.”
The Director of the Federal Register approves the incorporation by
reference of this standard in this section in accordance with 5
U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. You may obtain a copy of the
incorporated standard from the American National Standards
Institute at 1819 L Street, NW., Washington, DC 20036 or
http://www.ansi.org. You may inspect a copy of the
incorporated standard at the Federal Railroad Administration,
Docket Room, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20590, or
at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For
information on the availability of this material at NARA, call
202-741-6030, or go to
http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html.
B. Audiometers used with insert earphones must be calibrated
using one of the couplers listed in Table 7 of ANSI S3.6-2004.
C. The acoustical calibration shall be conducted annually.
D. The functional calibration must be conducted before each
day's use of the audiometer.
IV. Background Noise Levels
Testing shall be conducted in a room where the background
ambient noise octave-band sound pressures levels meet appendix D to
this part.
V. Conversion From Supra Aural Earphones
At the time of conversion from supra-aural to insert earphones,
testing must be performed with both types of earphones.
A. The test subject must have a quiet period of at least 14
hours before testing. Hearing protectors may be used as a
substitute for the quiet period.
B. The supra-aural earphone audiogram shall be compared to the
baseline audiogram, or the revised baseline audiogram if
appropriate, to check for a Standard Threshold Shift (STS). In
accordance with § 227.109(f)(2), if the audiogram shows an STS,
retesting with supra-aural earphones must be performed within 90
days. If the resulting audiogram confirms the STS, then it is
adopted as the current test instead of the prior one.
C. If retesting with supra-aural earphones is performed, then
retesting with insert earphones must be performed at that time to
establish the baseline for future audiometric tests using the
insert earphones.
VI. Revised Baseline Audiograms
A. If an STS is confirmed by the re-test with supra-aural
earphones, the audiogram may become the revised baseline audiogram
per the requirements of § 227.109(i) for all future hearing tests
with supra-aural earphones. The insert-earphone audiogram will
become the new reference baseline audiogram for all future hearing
tests performed with insert earphones.
B. If an STS is not indicated by the test with supra-aural
earphones, the baseline audiogram remains the reference baseline
audiogram for all future supra-aural earphone tests, until such
time as an STS is observed. In this case, the insert-earphone
audiogram taken at the same time will become the new reference
baseline audiogram for all future hearing tests performed with
insert earphones.
C. Transitioning Employees with Partial Shifts. Employers must
account for the workers who are in the process of developing an STS
(e.g., demonstrate a 7 dB average shift), but who at the time of
the conversion to insert earphones do not have a 10 dB average
shift. Employers who want to use insert earphones must enter the 7
dB shift information in the employee's audiometric test records
although it is not an “STS”. When the next annual audiogram using
insert earphones shows an average threshold shift at 2000, 3000 and
4000 Hz of 3 dB, completing the full shift (7 dB + 3 dB), employers
must then label that average shift as an STS. This triggers the
follow-up procedures at § 227.109(h).
VII. Records
All audiograms (including both those produced through the use of
insert earphones and supra-aural headsets), calculations, pure-tone
individual and average threshold shifts, full STS migrations, and
audiometric acoustical calibration records, are to be preserved as
records and maintained according to § 227.121(c).
[71 FR 63123, Oct. 27, 2006, as amended at 74 FR 25173, May 27,
2009]