{"data":{"id":"us/49-cfr-appendix-f-to-part-227","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"49 CFR Appendix F to Part 227","heading":"Appendix F to Part 227—Calculations and Application of Age Corrections to Audiograms","body":"This appendix is non-mandatory.\nIn determining whether a standard threshold shift (STS) has occurred, allowance may be made for the contribution of aging to the change in hearing level by adjusting the most recent audiogram. If the employer chooses to adjust the audiogram, the employer shall follow the procedure described below. This procedure and the age correction tables were developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in a criteria document. See “Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Noise,” Department of Health and Human Services (NIOSH) Publication No. 98-126. For each audiometric test frequency:\nI. Determine from Tables F-1 or F-2 the age correction values for the employee by:\nA. Finding the age at which the most recent audiogram was taken and recording the corresponding values of age corrections at 1000 Hz through 6000 Hz;\nB. Finding the age at which the baseline audiogram was taken and recording the corresponding values of age corrections at 1000 Hz through 6000 Hz.\nII. Subtract the values found in step (I)(B) from the value found in step (I)(A).\nIII. The differences calculated in step (II) represented that portion of the change in hearing that may be due to aging.\nExample:\nEmployee is a 32-year-old male. The audiometric history for his right ear is shown in decibels below.\nEmployee's age Audiometric test frequency (Hz)\n1000 2000 3000 4000 6000\n26 10 5 5 10 5\n27* 0 0 0 5 5\n28 0 0 0 10 5\n29 5 0 5 15 5\n30 0 5 10 20 10\n31 5 10 20 15 15\n32* 5 10 10 25 20\na. The audiogram at age 27 is considered the baseline since it shows the best hearing threshold levels. Asterisks have been used to identify the baseline and most recent audiogram. A threshold shift of 20 dB exists at 4000 Hz between the audiograms taken at ages 27 and 32.\nb. (The threshold shift is computed by subtracting the hearing threshold at age 27, which was 5, from the hearing threshold at age 32, which is 25). A retest audiogram has confirmed this shift. The contribution of aging to this change in hearing may be estimated in the following manner:\nc. Go to Table F-1 and find the age correction values (in dB) for 4000 Hz at age 27 and age 32.\nFrequency (Hz)\n1000 2000 3000 4000 6000\nAge 32 6 5 7 10 14\nAge 27 5 4 6 7 11\nDifference 1 1 1 3 3\nd. The difference represents the amount of hearing loss that may be attributed to aging in the time period between the baseline audiogram and the most recent audiogram. In this example, the difference at 4000 Hz is 3 dB. This value is subtracted from the hearing level at 4000 Hz, which in the most recent audiogram is 25, yielding 22 after adjustment. Then the hearing threshold in the baseline audiogram at 4000 Hz (5) is subtracted from the adjusted annual audiogram hearing threshold at 4000 Hz (22). Thus the age-corrected threshold shift would be 17 dB (as opposed to a threshold shift of 20 dB without age correction).\nTable F-1—Age Correction Values in Decibels for Males\nYears Audiometric test frequencies (Hz)\n1000 2000 3000 4000 6000\n20 or younger 5 3 4 5 8\n21 5 3 4 5 8\n22 5 3 4 5 8\n23 5 3 4 6 9\n24 5 3 5 6 9\n25 5 3 5 7 10\n26 5 4 5 7 10\n27 5 4 6 7 11\n28 6 4 6 8 11\n29 6 4 6 8 12\n30 6 4 6 9 12\n31 6 4 7 9 13\n32 6 5 7 10 14\n33 6 5 7 10 14\n34 6 5 8 11 15\n35 7 5 8 11 15\n36 7 5 9 12 16\n37 7 6 9 12 17\n38 7 6 9 13 17\n39 7 6 10 14 18\n40 7 6 10 14 19\n41 7 6 10 14 20\n42 8 7 11 16 20\n43 8 7 12 16 21\n44 8 7 12 17 22\n45 8 7 13 18 23\n46 8 8 13 19 24\n47 8 8 14 19 24\n48 9 8 14 20 25\n49 9 9 15 21 26\n50 9 9 16 22 27\n51 9 9 16 23 28\n52 9 10 17 24 29\n53 9 10 18 25 30\n54 10 10 18 26 31\n55 10 11 19 27 32\n56 10 11 20 28 34\n57 10 11 21 29 35\n58 10 12 22 31 36\n59 11 12 22 32 37\n60 or older 11 13 23 33 38\nTable F-2—Age Correction Values in Decibels for Females\nYears Audiometric test frequencies (Hz)\n1000 2000 3000 4000 6000\n20 or younger 7 4 3 3 6\n21 7 4 4 3 6\n22 7 4 4 4 6\n23 7 5 4 4 7\n24 7 5 4 4 7\n25 8 5 4 4 7\n26 8 5 5 4 8\n27 8 5 5 5 8\n28 8 5 5 5 8\n29 8 5 5 5 9\n30 8 6 5 5 9\n31 8 6 6 5 9\n32 9 6 6 6 10\n33 9 6 6 6 10\n34 9 6 6 6 10\n35 9 6 7 7 11\n36 9 7 7 7 11\n37 9 7 7 7 12\n38 10 7 7 7 12\n39 10 7 8 8 12\n40 10 7 8 8 13\n41 10 8 8 8 13\n42 10 8 9 9 13\n43 11 8 9 9 14\n44 11 8 9 9 14\n45 11 8 10 10 15\n46 11 9 10 10 15\n47 11 9 10 11 16\n48 12 9 11 11 16\n49 12 9 11 11 16\n50 12 10 11 12 17\n51 12 10 12 12 17\n52 12 10 12 13 18\n53 13 10 13 13 18\n54 13 11 13 14 19\n55 13 11 14 14 19\n56 13 11 14 15 20\n57 13 11 15 15 20\n58 14 12 15 16 21\n59 14 12 16 16 21\n60 or older 14 12 16 17 22","path":["Title 49—Transportation","Subtitle B—Other Regulations Relating to Transportation","CHAPTER II—FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION","PART 227—OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH IN THE LOCOMOTIVE CAB"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-49.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:26:34Z","sha256":"a69beed72c6be2eb46276ec57744aa590b093e116fcdcc6abdcb8d31d4d24135","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/49-cfr-appendix-e-to-part-227","next":"us/49-cfr-228.1"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}