Temporary Worker Initiative

Noise Exposure and Hearing Conservation

This is part of a series of guidance documents developed under the 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) Temporary Worker 

Initiative (TWI). This Initiative focuses on compliance with safety and health 

requirements when temporary workers are employed under the joint 

employment of a staffing agency and a host employer.

Temporary workers are entitled to the same 

protections under the Occupational Safety and 

Health Act of 1970 (the OSH Act) as all other 

covered workers. When a staffing agency supplies 

temporary workers to a business, typically, the 

staffing agency and the staffing firm client, 

commonly referred to as the host employer, are 

joint employers of those workers. Both employers 

are responsible for determining the conditions of 

employment and complying with the law. In these 

joint employment situations, questions regarding 

how each employer can fulfill its duty to comply 

with the standard are common. This bulletin 

addresses what both the staffing agency and the 

host employer can do to ensure that temporary 

workers who are exposed to hazardous noise 

levels are appropriately protected in accordance 

with OSHA standards 29 CFR 1910.95 for general 

industry and 29 CFR 1926.52 for construction — 

Occupational Noise Exposure (both referred to 

herein as “the standard”). 

Exposure to high levels of noise can cause 

permanent hearing loss. OSHA considers a hearing 

loss to have occurred when a worker experiences a 

standard threshold shift (STS). An STS is a change 

in the worker’s hearing threshold when compared 

to the worker’s baseline audiogram. Short-term 

exposure to loud noise can also cause a temporary 

change in hearing. Exposed workers may develop 

a short-term partial hearing loss, referred to as a 

temporary threshold shift (TTS) or may develop a 

ringing in the ears, called tinnitus. These short-term 

health effects may go away within a few minutes 

or hours after leaving the noisy area. However, 

repeated short-term exposures to loud noise can 

lead to permanent tinnitus and/or hearing loss.

OSHA sets legal limits on noise exposure in the 

workplace. These limits are based on a worker’s 

8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) over a work 

day. For noise, OSHA’s permissible exposure limit 

(PEL) is an 8-hour TWA noise level of 90 dBA.1

Time of exposure is reduced by half for each 

5 dBA increase. For example, if workers were 

exposed to noise for four hours, the exposure 

limit would be 95 dBA. [See Table G-16, 29 CFR 

1910.95 for general industry, or Table D-2 of 29 

CFR 1926.52 for construction].

OSHA’s noise standard states that when employees 

are exposed to noise levels exceeding the PEL, 

feasible engineering and/or administrative controls 

must be used to reduce noise levels at their 

workplace. Engineering controls reduce noise levels 

through modification of equipment or the work 

area, such as installing mufflers, noise barriers, 

1. dBA - Noise is measured in units of sound pressure levels called 

decibels using A-weighted sound levels (dBA). The A-weighted 

sound levels closely match the perception of loudness by the 

human ear. Decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale. 

TWI BULLETIN NO. 9
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and noise absorbing materials around machinery. 

Administrative controls are management decisions 

on work activities, work rotation, and workload to 

reduce workers’ exposure to hazardous noise levels. 

If such engineering and administrative controls 

fail to reduce sound levels within the levels found 

in Table G-16 of 29 CFR 1910.952

 or Table D-2 of 29 

CFR 1926.52, then personal protective equipment 

(PPE) must be provided and used to reduce sound 

to permissible limits. In some cases, a combination 

of engineering and administrative controls and 

PPE may be necessary to reduce employee noise 

exposures to allowable limits. 

OSHA also requires employers to implement a 

Hearing Conservation Program (HCP) whenever 

workers’ noise exposures equal or exceed an 

8-hour TWA sound level of 85 dBA in general 

industry, also known as the action level (AL), or 

when levels exceed 90 dBA in construction. In 

general industry, an HCP requires an employer to: 

• Develop a noise-monitoring program

• Notify employees of hazardous noise levels 

• Allow employees the ability to observe noise 

monitoring 

• Maintain an audiometric testing program, 

including a baseline audiogram 

• Provide hearing protectors 

• Develop a training program

• Provide access to information and training 

materials 

• Maintain accurate records 

Both the host employer and staffing agency are 

jointly responsible for ensuring that workers 

receive protection from hazardous noise levels 

when it is required under OSHA standards. 

Neither the host nor the staffing agency can require 

workers to provide or pay for their own hearing 

protection devices or require workers to purchase 

such devices as a condition of employment or 

placement. In addition, employees must be paid for 

the time spent receiving their audiograms, and the 

audiograms must be at no cost to the employee.

2. Current enforcement policy regarding §1910.95(b)(1) allows 

employers to rely on personal protective equipment and a 

hearing conservation program, rather than engineering and/or 

administrative controls, when hearing protectors will effectively 

attenuate the noise to which employees are exposed to acceptable 

levels. (See Tables G-16 or G-16a of the standard).

Host Employer Responsibilities

The host employer will usually have the primary 

responsibility for determining noise exposure 

levels, implementing and maintaining engineering, 

administrative, and work practice controls, 

providing appropriate hearing protection, and 

maintaining a hearing conservation program in 

accordance with all requirements of the standard 

for the workplace because:

• The host employer is most familiar with and has 

control over the processes and equipment that 

may produce hazardous noise levels that the 

temporary workers will encounter. 

• The host employer is often in the best position 

to implement an HCP, including but not limited 

to, noise monitoring, proper selection of hearing 

protection for the conditions at the worksite, 

audiometric testing, and training of employees 

within the time frames required by the standard. 

These provisions will likely already be in place 

for permanent staff. 

• The host employer can maintain the appropriate 

surveillance of workplace conditions and the 

degree of employee exposure. 

Staffing Agency Responsibilities

The staffing agency shares responsibility for its 

workers’ safety and health and has an obligation 

to become familiar with any noise exposure 

hazards and controls in place, including an HCP 

and hearing protection requirements, at the host 

employer’s worksite prior to assigning workers. 

As a recommended practice, the staffing agency 

should take reasonable steps to ensure that the 

host employer has an HCP in place that covers 

temporary workers in the same manner in which 

the host’s employees are covered. In addition, 

it is the staffing agency’s obligation to inform 

temporary employees of the noise hazards they 

may encounter, and ensure, as far as possible, that 

its workers are adequately protected, including 

following any safety and health rules (e.g., wearing 

hearing protection) required by the host employer. 

The staffing agency is also responsible for 

maintaining communication with its workers and 

the host employer regarding noise exposures. 

Such ongoing communication alerts the staffing 
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Example Scenario*†

A metal equipment manufacturer, Metal Works Co. (MWC), needs machine operators for a 

short-term increase in production. The company contracts with Temp Staffing to provide 

workers to work shifts on a temporary basis. Temp Staffing hires ten workers and sends them 

to work at MWC. 

MWC’s workplace is a noisy environment, with noise exposure levels exceeding 85 dBA. 

Although the contract stated that each party will comply with obligations under the OSH Act, 

the hearing conservation program was not addressed. MWC provides ear plugs but does not 

train the temporary workers in their use and does not conduct noise sampling or audiometric 

testing for the temporary workers. 

Temp Staffing has a weekly meeting with their employees and asks them if they were trained 

by MWC in the use of hearing protection. The temporary workers responded that they were not 

shown how to use the hearing protection. When Temp Staffing discusses this with MWC, MWC 

declines to provide training on hearing protection to temporary workers or include them in a 

hearing conservation program.

Analysis

MWC and Temp Staffing are both responsible for ensuring that temporary workers exposed to 

noise levels at or above 85 dBA are appropriately trained in the use of hearing protection and 

included in a hearing conservation program. Because it controls the worksite, MWC bears chief 

responsibility for ensuring implementation of a complete hearing conservation program. MWC 

is best positioned to train workers on the hearing protectors appropriate to the noise conditions 

found at the worksite as well as providing audiometric testing. Therefore, in this scenario, MWC 

may be cited for failing to include temporary employees in a hearing conservation program that 

includes hearing protection training and audiometric testing. 

agency and temporary employees to additional or 

newly created noise hazards that may need to be 

addressed and ensures that responsibilities of the 

HCP are understood and implemented. 

Joint Responsibilities

OSHA’s Occupational Noise standard at 29 CFR 

1910.95(g)(5)(i) and (ii) requires that employers 

establish a valid baseline audiogram within 6 

months of an employee’s first exposure at or above 

the action level, or within one year if a mobile test 

van is used, and that hearing protection is used 

in the interim. [See 1910.95(g)(5)(i) and (ii).] In 

cases where temporary workers work for multiple 

host employers for short periods of time (i.e., 

less than a year) and therefore may be missed 

by the host employers’ baseline and audiometric 

testing programs, staffing agencies may be better 

positioned to meet these requirements. 

Employers must also ensure that the temporary 

employees continue to receive an annual 

audiogram if they are still exposed to noise levels 

above an 8-hour time-weighted average of 85 

dBA, and that a comparison of the temporary 

employees’ annual audiogram to their baseline 

audiogram is performed in order to determine 

any loss of hearing. [See 29 CFR 1910.95(g)(7).] 

Employers must also record all work-related 

hearing loss cases on their OSHA 300 log, 

according to the recordkeeping requirement of 

29 CFR 1904.10. In situations where the time frame 

of the work performed is such that the temporary 
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workers may be missed by the host employer’s

audiometric testing program, the employers

should determine how the requirements to

provide baseline and annual audiometric testing to

temporary workers will be met. In such situations,

staffing agencies may be better positioned to meet

those requirements.

Employers should establish which party is

responsible for each aspect of an HCP prior to

work beginning; however neither employer may

avoid their ultimate responsibilities under the OSH

Act by requiring another party to perform them. 

Employers should consider confirming in writing 

the specific responsibilities of each employer 

regarding an HCP prior to the work beginning.

State Plans

Twenty-eight states and U.S. territories operate 

their own OSHA-approved occupational safety

and health programs, called State Plans. 

These State Plans have and enforce their own 

occupational safety and health standards that 

must be at least as effective as OSHA’s, but may 

have different or additional requirements. A list of 

the State Plans and more information are available 

at: www.osha.gov/dcsp/osp. 

How Can OSHA Help?

Workers have a right to a safe workplace. If you 

think your job is unsafe or you have questions, 

contact OSHA at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) or visit 

OSHA’s main web page at www.osha.gov. It’s 

confidential. We can help. 

For other valuable worker protection information, 

such as Workers’ Rights, Employer Responsibilities 

and other services OSHA offers, visit OSHA’s 

Workers’ page www.osha.gov/workers. 

For information on Temporary Workers visit 

OSHA’s Temporary Workers’ page www.osha.gov/

temp_workers. 

For more information on hearing conservation visit 

www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3074/osha3074.

html. For a pocket guide on noise in construction, 

visit www.osha.gov/Publications/3498noise-inconstruction-pocket-guide.pdf.

The OSH Act prohibits employers from retaliating 

against their employees for exercising their rights 

under the OSH Act. These rights include raising a 

workplace health and safety concern with either 

employer, reporting an injury or illness, filing an 

OSHA complaint, and participating in an inspection 

or talking to an inspector. If workers have been 

Temp Staffing should determine the noise exposure levels to which their workers would 

be exposed prior to their employees beginning work at MWC by assessing the worksite for 

potential hazards. This information should be made available by MWC. Before workers are 

placed in this type of environment, Temp Staffing was responsible for ensuring that training 

and other elements of a hearing conservation program, such as audiometric testing, would 

be performed. The staffing agency discovered MWC’s lapse in protection reasonably quickly, 

and upon discovery, immediately addressed the issue with MWC. If MWC continues to refuse 

to implement a hearing conservation program, Temp Staffing has the choice of withdrawing 

its workers from this site. If Temp Staffing fails to protect its workers, it may also be subject 

to OSHA citations for failing to provide a hearing conservation program to its employees, 

including hearing protection training and audiometric testing. 

* The company names used in this scenario are fictitious. Any resemblance to real companies is entirely coincidental.

†

 If a similar scenario as stated above existed in construction, then the employer and staffing agency would need to ensure that the host employer had a

feasible hearing conservation program in place for noise exposures above 90 dBA.
retaliated or discriminated against for exercising 

their rights, they must file a complaint with OSHA 

within 30 days of the alleged adverse action to 

preserve their rights under section 11(c). For more 

information, please visit www.whistleblowers.gov.

OSHA also provides help to employers. OSHA’s 

On-Site Consultation Program offers free and 

confidential advice to small and medium-sized 

businesses in all states and several territories, 

with priority given to high-hazard worksites. 

On-Site consultation services are separate from 

enforcement and do not result in penalties or 

citations. Consultants from state agencies or 

universities work with employers to identify 

workplace hazards, provide advice on compliance 

with OSHA standards, and assist in establishing 

and improving safety and health management 

systems. To locate the OSHA On-Site Consultation 

Program nearest you, call 1-800-321-6742 (OSHA) 

or visit www.osha.gov/consultation.

Disclaimer: This bulletin is not a standard or regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations. It contains 

recommendations as well as descriptions of mandatory safety and health standards. The recommendations are 

advisory in nature, informational in content, and are intended to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful 

workplace. The Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to comply with safety and health standards 

and regulations promulgated by OSHA or by a state with an OSHA-approved state plan. In addition, the OSH Act’s 

General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1), requires employers to provide their employees with a workplace free from 

recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm.

OSHA 3953-06 2018