One of the key elements of a noise assessment is identifying who needs to be included in what the HSE call ‘health surveillance’, a slightly Orwellian way of saying ‘hearing testing’. It has to be repeated and this is a guide to how often.

Part of a noise assessment is to identify who needs to be included in a hearing testing programme, and the HSE specify the result categories to be used. This is what the categories are and what they mean.

If the noise assessment identifies employees who are regularly working noise levels of over 85 dB(A) then the HSE requires a health surveillance programme to be in place - meaning ongoing hearing testing.

One of the main outcomes from a noise assessment is often a need for health surveillance - hearing testing - and that applies to everyone regularly exposed to levels over 85 dB(A). Where it can get a little more complicated is agency staff, especially who is responsible for the hearing tests.