U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

EMJ.>LOYMBNT £rANDAlU)S AnMINISTRATTON 

Office of Workers' Com~nsation Programs Washington. D.C. 2021 I 

July 15, 1976 No. 26 

NOTICE TO INSURANCE CARRIERS, SELF-INSURED EMPLOYERS UNDER 

THE LONGSHOREMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT, AS EXTENDED, AND OTHER 

INTERESTED PERSONS . 

Subject: Guidelines for Loss of Hearing Determinations 

Longshoremen's Act and Extensions 

The Office of Workers' Compensation Programs is issuing for 

use by its District Offices, including· the District of 

Columbia Compensation Act District Office, a clarification 

of its guidelines and procedures for determining employmentrelated loss of hearing when the parties agree· to an impartial evaluation. This is done to establish full uniformity of application throughout the OWCP District Offices -- which are currently using several different guidelines and 

procedures for determining employment-related loss of hearing. 

In this respect, the.specific uniform guidelines and procedures being established are currently being used by the 

majority of the OWCP District Offices. (nine out of 14) •. 

The guidelines and procedures are based in part on findings 

of a study made by the National Institute of Occupational 

Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the U.S. Department of Health, 

Education, and Welfare, published in 1972. The study concluded that the most accurate measurement of hearing loss 

is the ability to hear and interpret speech at the frequencies 

of 1,0001 2,000, and 3.,000 cycles per second (cps)·. This 

measurement standard is being officially adopted for use 

under the Longshore Act, effective immediately# 

The guidelines and procedures, when utilized in applicable 

cases, require the agreement of the parties to use and accept 

the reported findings of an independent otologist selected 

by the Deputy Commissioner or claims examiner representing 

the Deputy Commissioner. The referral to the otologist 

selected will be made by Form Ltr. LS-525, a copy of which· 

is attached to this notice. 

Based on the otologist 1 s reported test findings and opinion 

the District Office will calculate the percentage of monaural 

hearing loss, using the method given in the 1972 NIOSH 

publication. The NIOSH report did not contain a method for 
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calculating the percentage of binaural loss. The District 

Office will make this calculation, using the method described 

in the American Medical Association's "Guides to the 

Evaluation of fermanent Impairment, Ear, Noser Throat, and 

Related Structures,~ published in 1961, applied to the 

frequencies of 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 cps. 

It should be noted that the guidelines and procedures for 

dete~ining hearing loss require the concurrence of the 

parties, and do not preclude other informal methods of 

reaching agreement in hearing loss claims. Should the 

parties fail to agree and decline to utilize the procedures 

described in this notice or refuse to accept the findings 

and recommendation of the Deputy Commissioner or claims 

examiner representing the Deputy Commissioner, the case will 

be referred for a formal hearing before an Administrative 

Law Judge, and issuance of a decision and order thereafter. 

Claims received prior to this date in those District Offices 

not currently using these guidelines and procedures may also 

be governed by them unless the District Office finds that 

their utilization would significantly delay this adjudication 

or otherwise unduly prejudice final adjudicatory action. 

~ff!D!~ J_• 

Director, Office of Workers' 

Compensation Programs 

Attachment 
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

mDLO'OIBNT STANDAllD.$ ADMIN1ST.R.AT10N 

Office of Workers 1 Compensation Programs 

OWCP File No. 

Employee: 

Employer: 

Insurance Carrier: 

• 

• Pursuant to yt>ur agreement to accept this easer we a.re J."efe-.x.'ring theabove named employee for endiometric testing and otologie evaluation. 

Enclosed is all available inf'orma.tion about the employee's exposu:re to 

t10ise and copies of al.l medical :reports and audiograms. 

• 

Please a.:rra.nge for ENT e-xarni nation and measurement of the employee's 

hear:i:ne; ability in the :frequencies of 1,000,, 2,000, and J,000 o;roles. 

per second. You ~t if yau w.ish, refe:r the employ-a& to a. local 

speech and hearine; center, and we en.courage this prooedu:ce... If the ·. employee is still worki:Jlg in a noisy environment, au.diog-.cams sbo-uld 

be Ina.de only after he bas been a.wq from this envl.~onment i"or at 

least 16 hou.rs. 

• 

If you havo reason to question the a.ccuracy of' aJ.\Y- previous o::c mre-.ceni; 

tests or of the employee I s responses thereto,. you sho1.lld repeat the 

tests, or make use of whatever ad.di tio.na.l. tests or techniques you 

consider best .. 

Please- submit :,our 'report, the mporta or a:ny- consul.tan.ts., and th.e 

audiograms showing whether they a.re.ANSI, ISOt or ASA oal.il>:mted. 

Include in your report: (1) the date and hour 0£ the examination; 

(2) · the histor.r obtained .from. the employee, including the d.a.te and 

hour o.f last exposure to employment-related noise; (3) your :r.eason.ed 

opinion on the relationship o:r any hearing loss to exposure to 

employment-:elated noise; (4) your recommendations for ·treatment, 

includillg whether a heUlllg aid is needed; (5) the date that each 

instrument used in the test was la.st calibrated; and (6) who 

perfo:i:med the calibration. 

Also submit your bill in duplicate with the :r-eport, and p~ent will 

arranged~ · · 

Sincerely, 

Enclosures 

Attachment to Notice No •. 26 Foxm Lt:c. LS- S25 

Rev. JuJ.s· 1976 

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