Testimony on an occupational noise proposal by the coalition for workshop safety

In this issue of NNI is a discussion of recent actions by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA with respect to occupational noise exposure. The OSHA proposal was announced in the Pan American News Department of the December issue, and the subsequent withdrawal is announced in the same department in this issue. There were many comments in favor of the proposal, and many against. These comments can be found in the OSHA Docket for the proposal, OSHA-2010-0032. This statement by Stuart L. Sessions, president of Environomics, Inc. on behalf of the Coalition for Workplace Safety was presented to a hearing on “Investigating OSHA’s Regulatory Agenda and its Impact on Job Creation.” The hearing took place on February 15, 2011 before the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, House Committee on Education and the Workforce. It is being published here so that readers of NNI have a better idea of cost estimates for noise control in American industry, and the thinking behind solutions for control of occupational noise in American industry.