Skip to content
STEELTOETOOLS

Hearing Conservation Program Generator

Whenever employee noise exposures equal or exceed an 8-hour time-weighted average of 85 decibels, 29 CFR 1910.95(c)(1) requires a continuing, effective hearing conservation program. This generator builds the written document around what paragraphs (c) through (o) actually require: monitoring, employee notification, audiometric testing, the standard threshold shift follow-up, hearing protectors and their attenuation, annual training and records.

1910.95 sets no review interval for the written document; training and audiograms are annual. Write down what you actually do.
A licensed or certified audiologist, otolaryngologist or other physician, or a qualified technician responsible to one of them.
The detailed program requirements of (c) through (o) sit in the general industry standard. 1926.52(d)(1) requires a continuing, effective program in construction but does not spell it out.

Nothing you type is sent to our servers. A draft is kept in this browser until you clear it.

Template for informational purposes only. This document must be reviewed and adapted by a competent or qualified person for your specific jobsite, equipment, and applicable federal, state, and local requirements. It does not constitute legal, engineering, or safety advice and does not by itself establish compliance with OSHA or any other standard. SteelToeTools assumes no liability for its use. Nothing you type is sent to our servers.

How to use this program

  1. 1
    Get the exposures before you write the program. The action level is an 8-hour TWA of 85 dBA, and (c)(1) says it is computed without regard to any attenuation provided by hearing protectors. Handing out plugs does not take anyone out of the program. Run the numbers in the noise dose and TWA calculator.
  2. 2
    Put the dates in writing. Baseline within six months of first exposure, annual audiogram after that, written notice of a standard threshold shift within 21 days, annual training. Those four intervals are where most programs fail an inspection, and all four come straight out of paragraph (g) and (k).
  3. 3
    Check the attenuation, do not assume it. (j)(2) asks the protector to bring exposure to a TWA of 90 dBA or below — and (j)(3) to 85 dBA or below for anyone who has had a standard threshold shift. The NRR derating calculator shows what the label number is really worth.
  4. 4
    Say which standard you are following. The detailed program lives in the general industry rule. On a construction site, 1926.52(d)(1) requires a continuing, effective hearing conservation program without describing one — so most construction employers build on the 1910.95 framework. Write that down rather than leaving it ambiguous.
  5. 5
    Post the standard. (l)(1) requires a copy of 1910.95 to be made available to employees and posted in the workplace. Then run the crew through hearing loss prevention and hearing protection fit.

What OSHA requires

29 CFR 1910.95(c)(1) requires the employer to administer a continuing, effective hearing conservation program, as described in paragraphs (c) through (o), whenever employee noise exposures equal or exceed an 8-hour time-weighted average sound level of 85 decibels measured on the A scale (slow response), or equivalently a dose of fifty percent. That figure is the action level ((c)(2)), and exposures are computed without regard to attenuation from hearing protectors.

Separately, Table G-16 sets the permissible exposures: 90 dBA for 8 hours, 95 dBA for 4, 100 dBA for 2, and 115 dBA for a quarter hour or less. Above those levels, 1910.95(b)(1) requires feasible administrative or engineering controls first, with personal protective equipment used where those controls fail to bring exposure within the table. Exposure to impulsive or impact noise should not exceed a 140 dB peak sound pressure level.

What the hearing conservation program must include — 29 CFR 1910.95(c) through (o)
RequirementOn this form
(d), (e), (f)Monitoring designed to identify who is in the program and to enable protector selection; notification of each employee exposed at or above 85 dBA TWA; opportunity to observe measurementsSection 1
(g), (h)Audiometric testing at no cost: baseline within 6 months (1 year with mobile vans), annual audiogram, test frequencies and audiometer calibrationSection 2
(g)(8)-(g)(10)Standard threshold shift — an average change of 10 dB or more at 2000, 3000 and 4000 Hz in either ear — written notice within 21 days, and the four follow-up stepsSection 3
(i), (j)Hearing protectors available at no cost, chosen from a variety, fitted and supervised; attenuation evaluated and adequate to 90 dBA TWA, or 85 dBA after a standard threshold shiftSection 4
(a), (b)(1)Feasible administrative or engineering controls where Table G-16 levels are exceededSection 5
(k), (l)Training repeated annually, covering the three subjects of (k)(3); the standard made available and postedSection 6
(m)Exposure measurement records kept 2 years; audiometric records kept for the duration of employment; transfer of records if the employer ceases to do businessSection 7

Construction is not identical

29 CFR 1926.52 sets the same permissible exposures in Table D-2, and 1926.52(d)(1) states that “in all cases where the sound levels exceed the values shown herein, a continuing, effective hearing conservation program shall be administered.” It does not spell out monitoring, audiometric testing, standard threshold shifts or recordkeeping the way 1910.95 does. That is why most construction employers write their program on the general industry framework. Check your state plan as well: several go beyond the federal rule.

NIOSH recommends a lower exposure limit — 85 dBA as an 8-hour TWA with a 3 dB exchange rate — than the OSHA permissible exposure of 90 dBA with a 5 dB exchange rate. The difference and what it means in practice is covered in OSHA noise exposure limits. This generator produces a template: the employer remains responsible for the accuracy of the program and for its implementation.

Frequently asked questions

1910.95(c)(1): whenever employee noise exposures equal or exceed an 8-hour time-weighted average sound level of 85 decibels on the A scale (slow response), or equivalently a dose of fifty percent. Two details matter. Exposures are computed in accordance with appendix A and Table G-16a. And they are computed without regard to any attenuation provided by hearing protectors — you cannot earplug your way out of the program.

The action level is an 8-hour TWA of 85 dBA, or a 50 percent dose (1910.95(c)(2)); reaching it triggers the hearing conservation program. The permissible exposure is set by Table G-16 at 90 dBA for 8 hours, sliding down to 115 dBA for a quarter hour or less; above those levels 1910.95(b)(1) requires feasible administrative or engineering controls first, and personal protective equipment only if those controls fail to bring exposure within the table. Impulsive or impact noise should not exceed a 140 dB peak sound pressure level.

1910.95(g)(10)(i): a change in hearing threshold, relative to the baseline audiogram, of an average of 10 dB or more at 2000, 3000 and 4000 Hz in either ear. The employer may correct the annual audiogram for the contribution of aging using appendix F before making that determination — (g)(10)(ii). When an STS is found, the employee must be informed in writing within 21 days ((g)(8)(i)).

Unless a physician determines the shift is not work related or aggravated by occupational noise, 1910.95(g)(8)(ii) requires four steps: employees not using hearing protectors are fitted with them, trained in their use and care, and required to use them; employees already using protectors are refitted and retrained, and given protectors with greater attenuation if necessary; the employee is referred for a clinical audiological or otological evaluation if further testing is needed or if a medical pathology of the ear caused or aggravated by the protectors is suspected; and the employee is told of the need for an otological examination if an unrelated ear pathology is suspected. Attenuation then has to bring that employee's exposure to a TWA of 85 dBA or below ((j)(3)).

Within 6 months of the employee's first exposure at or above the action level (1910.95(g)(5)(i)). If mobile test vans are used, the window is 1 year — but employees must wear hearing protectors for any period beyond six months after first exposure until the baseline is obtained ((g)(5)(ii)). The baseline test has to be preceded by at least 14 hours without exposure to workplace noise, and hearing protectors may be used to satisfy that ((g)(5)(iii)).

Annually. 1910.95(k)(2) requires the training program to be repeated each year for every employee in the hearing conservation program, with the information updated to stay consistent with changes in protective equipment and work processes. (k)(3) fixes the three subjects: the effects of noise on hearing; the purpose of hearing protectors, the advantages, disadvantages and attenuation of the various types, and instructions on selection, fitting, use and care; and the purpose of audiometric testing with an explanation of the test procedures. Under (l)(1) a copy of the standard is made available to employees and posted in the workplace.

1910.95(m)(3): noise exposure measurement records for two years, and audiometric test records for the duration of the affected employee's employment. Audiometric records must include the employee's name and job classification, the date of the audiogram, the examiner's name, the date of the last acoustic or exhaustive calibration of the audiometer, and the employee's most recent noise exposure assessment ((m)(2)(ii)). If the employer ceases to do business, all records are transferred to the successor employer ((m)(5)).

Partly. The detailed hearing conservation program requirements of paragraphs (c) through (o) sit in the general industry standard, 1910.95. Construction has its own noise standard, 29 CFR 1926.52, which sets the same Table D-2 permissible exposures and requires a continuing, effective hearing conservation program whenever the levels of the table are exceeded, and 1926.101 covers hearing protection. Many construction employers therefore build their program on the 1910.95 framework because it is the only one OSHA spells out. Say which standard you are following in the document, and check your state plan: several go further than the federal rule.

Sources & references

Content checked against these sources — last reviewed August 28, 2026.

By — Editorial team of SteelToeTools.com (published by LSEA SAS) Updated v1