Larry H. Royster
MAE Dept., NC State Univ., Raleigh, NC 27695-7910
Julia Doswell Royster
Environmental Noise Consultants, Inc., Raleigh, NC 27622-0698
A noise exposure database was previously collected using a 5-dB exchange rate for three different types of industrial work environments: paper manufacturing, aluminum casting and rolling, and meat packaging. This database will be reanalyzed to estimate the impact on the percentage of additional employees that would have to be included in each company's hearing conservation program if a 3-dB exchange rate replaces the present OSHA 5-dB exchange rate. In addition, the effect of using different combinations of criterion and action levels in conjunction with the use of a 3-dB exchange rate will be discussed.