What is a Hearing Tests Used For?
A hearing test or audiometry test measures a person’s hearing ability at different levels and frequencies. This test also compares your hearing against normal hearing and determines whether you might have a hearing problem or hearing loss.
Anyone concerned about their hearing may also visit an audiologist’s or ENT physician’s office for testing. While nurses or audiologists often administer hearing screenings to children in public school settings, they’re becoming increasingly routine in many volunteer and work environments. At WorkSafe, our team provides this testing service.
Hearing Loss Levels
According to The Mayo Foundation, long-term exposure to noises, aging, ear canal blockages, and even excess earwax can contribute to hearing loss. Additionally, there are different types of hearing loss:
- Age-related hearing loss
- Conductive hearing loss
- Mild hearing loss
- Moderate hearing loss
- Severe hearing loss
Results from a hearing test may lead an audiologist to recommend instruments like hearing aids to facilitate better hearing.
Hearing Tests in Wichita Work Environments.
Some professions require or highly recommend that their employees get their hearing checked. Depending upon your job, loud sounds may contribute to outer, inner, or middle ear hearing loss.
Jobs like construction work have a noisy environment and often require a hearing conservation program if workers experience loud noises exceeding 85 decibels over an average period of eight hours. For comparison, everyday normal speech is typically between 60 to 80 decibels.
At WorkSafe, our Occupational Health professionals here in Wichita offer hearing tests at the following times over a worker’s career:
- Pre-employment, to gather a baseline for their hearing
- Once a year, to detect any changes or hearing loss
- When a worker leaves their job
We offer the following hearing tests for Wichita and the surrounding areas at WorkSafe:
A pure tone test is a standard test that we use in workplace testing environments because it is non-invasive, quick, and painless. Most employees complete this test in under five minutes.
To begin the pure tone testing, workers must first remove items like headbands, hats, earrings, and other jewelry, then turn their cell phones off.
The test has four main steps:
- Our WorkSafe technician ensures that an employee’s headset is appropriately in place.
- The technician supplies the employee with instructions via the headset and an audiometer.
- The audiometer tests each ear and produces various whistles and beeps known as pure tones. The goal is to identify the softest sounds an employee hears at each frequency.
The employee clicks a button notifying the tester each time they hear the sounds, and we record their responses.
Sometimes instead of testing sounds like beeps, we may also test for speech sounds. The process is very similar and often acts as the second step in audiometry tests.
This portion involves an employee listening to certain words and repeating them back. This process analyzes the softest speech a person can hear and comprehend as well as their ability to separate words from background noise.
This was the most enjoyable as possible therapy experience I have ever had, which enabled me to progress accordingly in a positive way and have a positive outcome. Thank you for being a great team, WorkSafe PT.
Help your employees prevent hearing loss.
Employees become susceptible to hearing loss in construction, farm work, manufacturing, and other industries. Every employee receives a comprehensive hearing test when our team at WorkSafe administers them.
We’re proud to serve Wichita, Kansas, and the surrounding areas. Let us handle your employees’ hearing tests today!
Learn more about our hearing tests or explore our other occupational services when you call our WorkSafe team at (316) 262-8800.
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