Under Factories and Machinery (Noise Exposure) Regulations 1989, stipulates that valid baseline for audio metric testing shall be established to every employee by their employer within twelve months from the date of the regulations takes effect or within six months from the day employee commences work.

Excessive noise can also cause physiological problems other than hearing. It can have an effect on emotions, produce irritability, increase blood pressure and heart rate, and produce nausea. These effects on the employee in a noisy environment are not well defined as an occupational illness, but may have an effect on the quality and efficiency of the work performed.

Audiometric Test monitors the sharpness and acuity of an employee’s hearing over time. Hearing is tested by checking a person’s response to pure tone sounds in frequencies that span the major range of human hearing. Employees identified as being exposed to long-term exposure of noise levels consistently in excess of 85 dBA in the workplace are required to have an initial “baseline” audiogram and then repeat testing on an annual basis. Baseline is the first test given to an employee and this is what future hearing ability is compared to for the purposes of quantifying hearing loss.