Occupational Hearing Loss Law and Legal Definition
According to 49 CFR 225.5 [Title 49 – Transportation; Subtitle B -- Other Regulations Relating to Transportation; Chapter II -- Federal Railroad Administration, Department of Transportation; Part 225 -- Railroad Accidents/Incidents: Reports Classification, and Investigations], occupational hearing loss means “a diagnosis of occupational hearing loss by a physician or other licensed health care professional, where the employee's audiogram reveals a work-related Standard Threshold Shift (STS) (i.e., at least a 10-decibel change in hearing threshold, relative to the baseline audiogram for that employee) in hearing in one or both ears, and the employee's total hearing level is 25 decibels or more above audiometric zero (averaged at 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz) in the same ear(s) as the STS.”
