Abstract:
The present situation and outlook of ``Conservation and Compensation for Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Japan'' was explained at the Second Joint Meeting of the ASA and the ASJ (1988). After that, a new administrative guideline for prevention of noise-induced hearing loss was issued in 1992. At present, hearing conservation is being done at noisy workplaces in accordance with this guideline. Control of the work environment, work control, hearing conservation, and education of industrial hygiene, in addition to a periodic measurement of the noise levels, are obligatory at workplaces where the equivalent noise level (L[inf Aeq]) is 85 dB or more. As for compensations covered by Labor Accident Compensation Insurance, various compensations proportional to the degree or hearing loss are paid at the time of their retirement regarding the hearing loss occurring in workers who have worked at a noisy workplace where the noise level exceeds 85 dB(A) for a long period of time. The above is the present situation for conservation and compensation in hearing loss at noisy workplaces in Japan.