WASHINGTON – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed two guidance documents, one for workers and one for employers, which describe the use of spirometry testing to help reduce and prevent worker exposure to respiratory hazards.

Spirometry is a common pulmonary function test that measures how well a person moves air in and out of the lungs. Workers who inhale some types of dusts, gases or other air contaminants can, over time, experience lung damage. The spirometry test may detect breathing problems or significant changes in a worker’s lung function at an early stage. The information in these new guidance documents assists employers with identifying and eliminating hazardous workplace exposures and helping reduce or prevent the chances of workers developing lung disease.

The new OSHA-NIOSH-produced Infosheet for employers clarifies what spirometry is, when it is needed, and critical elements that employers can use to evaluate the quality of spirometry services provided to their workers. The Infosheet also describes how monitoring workers’ lung function over time can help individuals by identifying problems early and make the workplace safer by identifying when workplace respiratory hazards are causing problems that must be corrected. The companion document, OSHA-NIOSH Worker Info, explains to workers the importance of taking a spirometry test, what to do during the test, and their right to receive an explanation and copy of test results.

“Spirometry is the best available test for early detection of decreasing or abnormal lung function,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “Our joint effort with NIOSH in developing these products will help broaden outreach and enhance knowledge of preventive measures aimed at protecting worker health and safety.”

“We are pleased to join with OSHA in emphasizing the important role of spirometry in preventing costly, debilitating, and potentially fatal occupational lung diseases,” said NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D. “These tests are a vital component of health and safety programs in workplaces where workers may be exposed to hazardous airborne contaminants.”

OSHA also recommends spirometry testing for workers exposed to diacetyl and diacetyl substitutes. The agency recently issued a Safety and Health Information Bulletin on Occupational Exposure to Flavoring Substances: Health Effects and Hazard Controls and a companion Worker Alert on Diacetyl and Substitutes. These documents recommend that employers include spirometry testing in their medical surveillance programs to identify workers experiencing adverse health effects from exposure to flavorings, including food flavorings containing diacetyl.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
The answer to the question, I administer Spirometry tests for my company, do I need training?
Workplace INTEGRA  Spirometry Training Schedule

Here is the schedule for the remainder of 2011.  All courses held in Greensboro, NC.

Initial certification:

September 22-23
November 17-18

If interested in Spirometry refresher training, please call 336 834 8775 for more information.

Please sign up here for Registration
More information here on Initial Course
Questions: info@wpintegra.com
or Call 888-974-0001

OSHA is reopening the public record on a proposed rule to revise the Occupational Injury and Illness Recording and Reporting Requirement regulation. Notice of the reopening will be published May 17 in the Federal Register. The purpose of the reopening is to allow interested individuals to comment on the small business teleconferences OSHA and the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy co-sponsored April 11-12, and on the issues raised during the teleconferences. OSHA held the teleconferences to gather information from representatives of small businesses about their experiences recording work-related musculoskeletal disorders and how they believe they would be impacted by OSHA’s proposed rule. OSHA has posted a summary of comments about the teleconferences in the public docket for this rulemaking. The proposed rule covers only MSDs that employers are already required to record under the longstanding OSHA Recordkeeping rule. Interested persons must submit comments by June 16 either electronically or by fax, mail, hand delivery, express mail, messenger or courier. See the Federal Register notice for more information.

Vibrations in the ear continue briefly after a sound has ended, researchers say.
— Robert Preidt

TUESDAY, April 5 (HealthDay News) — The inner ear can actually “store” sounds, according to a new study.

Scientists found that vibrations in the inner ear continue even after a sound has ended and may serve as a mechanical memory of recent sounds.

The study is published in the April 5 issue of the Biophysical Journal.

In research with guinea pigs, the investigators found that after-vibrations in the inner ear were dependent on the magnitude and frequency of the sound stimuli and that even minor hearing loss resulted in a major reduction in after-vibrations.

“The after-vibrations appear to be driven by sustained force production in the inner ear — a form of short-term memory of past stimulations,” study senior author Dr. Alfred L. Nuttall, of the Oregon Hearing Research Center, said in a journal news release.

“It is important to point out that although our findings clearly demonstrate the existence of after-vibrations, further work is needed to elucidate the underlying mechanism,” he added.

Nuttall explained the potential importance of after-vibrations for hearing.

“The ability to detect brief gaps in an ongoing stimulus is critical for speech recognition; gaps need to be longer than a minimal interval to be perceived. To the extent that after-vibrations excite the auditory nerve fibers, they may explain part of the difficulty in detecting such gaps.”

The U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders outlines signs of hearing loss.

OSHA celebrates 40 years of helping to ensure healthier workers, safer workplaces and a stronger America.
Throughout 2011, OSHA is presenting a series of resources and activities to celebrate the agency’s 40th anniversary. Visit the OSHA at 40 Web page for an interactive timeline of the agency’s history, an anniversary message from OSHA Assistant Secretary David Michaels and a commemoration of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire. April 28, 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of OSHA’s first day on the job!

Workplace INTEGRA, Inc. will be attending the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses Conference being held in Atlanta Georgia, from April 29-May 5, 2011.  The conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, GA. 

Please stop by booth number 503 in the Exhibit Hall to review our featured products, Workplace Applications health & safety data management software and INTEGRAfit-quantitative fit testing for hearing protection.  Of course you can stop by to say hello and enter your name into our drawing for an Apple iPod Touch!  Hope to see you in Atlanta!

Still time to sign up to attend!

https://www.aaohn.org/2011-national-conference/aaohn-2011-national-conference.html

Here is the schedule for the remainder of 2011.  All courses held in Greensboro, NC.

Initial certification:

May 19-20
September 22-23
November 17-18

Refresher certification:

October 21

Please sign up here for Registration
More information here on Initial Course
More information here on Recertification Course
Questions: info@wpintegra.com
or Call 888-974-0001

by Terrence O’Brien on March 31, 2011 at 12:30 PM

Scientists at the University of Utah led by researcher Richard Rabbitt, have found a way to stimulate inner ear cells with infrared laser light. Using low-powered optical signals, the researchers triggered the inner ear hair cells of an oyster toadfish to send signals to its brain, raising the possibility of using the technology to restore hearing to the deaf. Rabbitt believes the cells released neurotransmitters because the mitochondria they contain are sensitive to infrared wavelengths. Current hearing implants rely on electrodes that use electrical simulation, but only deliver a limited range of frequencies (usually eight). By contrast, the human ear is capable of hearing over 3,000 frequencies, and Rabbitt believes that optical stimulation, which can be focused on narrow sets of cells and tuned to different wavelengths, could restore the full range of hearing to patients.

Rabbitt said the research is at least five to ten years away from implementation in a viable optical cochlear implant. To be practical, the size of the power supply and light source would have to be dramatically reduced, and power consumption would also have to be minimized to run on tiny batteries similar to those used in hearing aids. The research also has potential for treating vision impairment, balance problems and movement disorders like Parkinson’s. The team also developed an infrared laser-based pacemaker, but current electrical pacemakers work well enough that no one is clamoring for a laser-powered replacement.

Click here for link.

By Donald Melanson posted Mar 15th 2011 12:22PM

We’ve already seen the principle of bone conduction be applied to headphones, but Sonitus Medical is taking the idea to a whole new level with its SoundBite dental hearing aid, which has just received the necessary European CE Mark certification (it already has FDA approval). As you can probably surmise, the device is a hearing aid that’s placed on your teeth, although it’s not actually implanted or attached in any way — it’s simply custom fitted to the person’s upper back teeth. The other part of the package is a more standard-type hearing aid unit that’s worn behind the ear, which processes and wirelessly transmits to the device in your mouth. That’s obviously not intended for cases when a simple hearing aid will do, but Sonitus says the system can help people who are “essentially deaf” in one ear regain their spatial hearing ability.

New technologies make the goal of OSHA’s Hearing Conservation Amendment, the elimination of noise-induced hearing loss, very feasible.

By Brad Witt, MA, CCC-A  March 1, 2011

OH&S Magazine, Vol. 80 No. 3 

When OSHA enacted its new Hearing Conservation Amendment in 1983, evidence at the time suggested it would be a strong force in eliminating noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) from the workplace. But nearly 30 years later, reality has shown the high hopes to be unfounded. Occupational hearing loss continues to be called “the most common permanent and preventable occupational injury.”¹ And the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that, despite decades of legislation and intervention by employers, the average number of cases of recordable NIHL in industry has been about 25,000 per year for the past five years.²

The noise hazard remains the same in 2011, but now the landscape for hearing conservation is much different. Technology has fundamentally changed the way we measure the effectiveness of hearing protectors, and several long-awaited changes in regulations appear to be making headway toward enactment. Here is an update of issues and changes that have a major effect on hearing conservation efforts for your noise-exposed workers.

OSHA Rulemaking
At the core of OSHA’s Hearing Conservation Amendment are two numbers: the 90 dB Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) and the 5 dB Exchange Rate (ER). The PEL is OSHA’s definition of maximum safe noise; any 8-hour exposure exceeding this level requires hearing protection for noise-exposed workers. The Exchange Rate describes the rate at which allowable exposure time is halved; a “5 dB exchange rate” means allowable exposure time is halved for every 5 dB increase in noise levels.

These numbers have their roots in the Walsh-Healey noise regulation of 1969. But the preponderance of scientific evidence since then suggests these levels are far too lax in their protective value. The 90 dB PEL and 5 dB ER still allow a substantial percentage of noise-exposed workers (23 to 32 percent, by NIOSH estimates) to suffer NIHL. This makes workers in the United States far less protected than their counterparts in Europe, Australia, or most other parts of the world.

Reducing the PEL by just 5 decibels (from 90 to 85 dB) would put OSHA in good company. Nearly every country in the world except the United States uses the more-protective 85 dB limit value, and even NIOSH and the U.S. Department of Defense define the 85 dB PEL and 3 dB ER as best practice. Professional organizations including the National Hearing Conservation Association and American Industrial Hygiene Association called upon OSHA last year to reduce the PEL from 90 to 85 dB and adjust the ER from 5 to 3 dB. Most noise dosimeters now allow users to select either 3 or 5 dB exchange rates.

While OSHA has resisted efforts to reopen or update its Hearing Conservation Amendment since its enactment in 1983, there is a growing expectation for a change to be made soon. This is due in part to the fact OSHA may be obligated to update its hearing conservation standard to accommodate a change in the way hearing protectors are rated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Click here for remainder of article.