WAHTS Blog, News & Research

For decades, traditional booth-based audiometry has shaped how hearing thresholds are assessed. The model worked well when clinicians, sound booths, and service members were all in the same location at the same time. But as the Department of Defense has realized over the past several years, that model isn’t suited for today’s operational realities. Hearing...

When it comes to hearing conservation, logistical issues often hinder compliance. That’s a challenge Shayne Hill and her team at the Tennessee Valley Training Center (TVTC) were all too familiar with. Located in Decatur, Alabama, TVTC provides safety training and occupational health services to some of the South’s largest industrial employers, including chemical plants, power...

In the music industry, hearing isn’t just necessary — it’s everything. Musicians, sound engineers, and crew members rely on their ears as their most valuable tool. Yet hearing loss often develops gradually, usually unnoticed until it starts to affect work, communication, and even one’s passion for music. That’s why the American Tinnitus Association (ATA) teamed...

How shipboard hearing tests are helping a federal fleet model what’s possible for maritime services The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration runs some of the most remote missions in the federal government. Its Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) manages 15 research and survey ships, as well as a fleet of specialized aircraft. Crewed...

A Fresh Start in Hearing Conservation For Martin Technical, Inc., safety isn’t just about compliance; it’s about delivering more innovative and more effective ways to protect industrial workers. While Martin is well known for services like arc flash risk assessments and lockout/tagout procedure development, the company recently expanded its safety offerings by launching an in-house...

When most people think of hearing tests, they picture a booth, a soundproof room, and a patient wearing headphones while tones beep softly in their ears. But what if none of that were possible? What if you had to perform accurate auditory assessments in a waiting room, a rural village, or during a global health...

In today’s workplace, time is valuable—and so is hearing. However, for many organizations, hearing protection fit testing has become a burdensome process that requires multiple sessions, proprietary earplugs, or equipment restricted to fixed locations. WAHTS is changing that. In just 4–5 minutes per worker, the WAHTS system offers a fit test with an individual PAR...

In hearing conservation, the phrase “boothless audiometry” might once have suggested compromise. After all, for decades, accurate hearing tests have needed bulky sound booths and specialized audiometers. However, today’s safety requirements—quick-moving crews, scattered sites, and global operations—demand tools that move with the workforce, such as a wearable audiometry system. The WAHTS System offers a solution...

Workplaces with high noise exposure face a major challenge: how to efficiently test large groups of employees for hearing loss while minimizing disruptions to daily operations. Traditional audiometric testing methods can be slow and inconvenient, leading to scheduling conflicts and lost productivity. For organizations complying with OSHA’s occupational noise exposure regulations, these inefficiencies can create...

WAHTS Hearing is proud to serve as a partner with the Department of Defense (DoD) in their recent initiative to expand hearing protector fit testing for noise-exposed service members and civilian employees.  This initiative, detailed in a recent article on Health.Mil, marks a significant advancement in hearing conservation efforts within the military community. The updated Hearing Conservation Program...

The WAHTS Team is Very Excited to Share Some Big News and Updates in the Occupational Hearing space   In October 2022, we submitted a letter of interpretation from OSHA regarding the use of the ANSI S3.1-1999 (R2018) Maximum Permissible Ambient Noise Levels (MPANLs) in lieu of the MPANLs in the occupational noise exposure standard:...

Reliability of Tablet-Based Hearing Testing in Nicaraguan Schoolchildren Hearing loss affects an estimated 4 in 1000 children, yet meeting demand is challenging due to the shortage of audiologists and a growing need for access to hearing healthcare. Fortunately, tablet-based hearing assessments and boothless audiometry are exciting new technologies that offer more expansive access to hearing...

Boothless Audiometry Provides Highly Repeatable Results for Various Tests of Auditory Performance in the Field Environment   What is Boothless Audiometry?  Almost half of all adults with noise-related hearing loss work in noisy environments.   In the U.S., approximately 37.5 million adults over the age of 18 suffer from hearing loss, including more than half of...