Journal of safety research
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Exclusive reliance on such practices as policy review, audiometric testing audits, and noise surveillance to evaluate the effectiveness of workplace hearing conservation programs (HCP) fails to capture the impact of these programs as experienced by workers at the "shop floor" and offers little insight into the reasons and potential remedies for noted deficiencies. ⋯ Yearly program evaluation with input from all end-users is important in the process of hearing loss prevention. The qualitative assessment outlined in this paper serves as a basis for future quantitative assessments of HCP effectiveness using hearing threshold data and noise exposure assessments to examine changes in hearing levels as a function of noise exposure and other risk factors for hearing loss.