Benson’s NEXT Audiometer Combines “Ease” and “Compliance”

Minneapolis, MN, May 3, 2005--Benson Medical Instruments’ NEXT stand-alone audiometer is a cost-effective way to solve compliance issues with the utmost ease and simplicity.

The NEXT Answer to OSHA Compliance Complexity!

Life is anything but simple—especially for health care professionals! As an occupational health and/or clinic nurse, you must handle health emergencies, incorporate safety precautions, and develop and implement multiple occupational health programs. And it seems that, as one favorite cultural axiom puts it, “Just when you figure out the rat race the rats get faster!” This seems to be true with OSHA and ANSI hearing conservation compliance. At one time, health screening tests were fairly straightforward. But with ongoing new interpretations, guidelines, and definitions in OSHA law, now a simple audiometric hearing test is anything but simple!

Streamline Your Company’s OSHA Compliance!

To help bring greater simplicity to your life, Benson Medical Instruments has created NEXT. This stand-alone audiometer combines the ease of touchscreen operation with powerful analysis to help you easily keep up with the latest OSHA compliance mandates.

Just touch the screen and NEXT will take control to deliver a valid audiogram.

Track Separate Baseline Data: In 2003, OSHA issued an interpretation letter mandating that hearing conservation programs track baselines separately for each ear! The good news is that NEXT captures this new interpretation so that you can seamlessly and easily maintain your OSHA compliance.

NEXT—Automatically Flags Recordable Hearing Loss! OSHA now mandates that certain standard threshold shifts (STS) must be recorded. Compliance couldn’t be simpler. NEXT identifies these STSs so that you can easily record them! NEXT is actually designed with OSHA 29 CFR 1910 regulations in mind to make your job easier. NEXT is also designed to:

• Calculate OSHA STS and recordable hearing loss—automatically.
• Maintain separate-ear or single baseline.
• Include extensive user-defined data and comment fields.
• Multi-task, including testing, data entry, and printing all at once.
• Collect all demographic and exposure data required by OSHA.
• Integrate with BAS-200 Bio-Acoustic Simulator for required daily biologic calibration checks, or BAS-200slm Bio-Acoustic Simulator/Sound Level Meter for daily calibration checks and ambient noise level monitoring.
• Exceed ANSI S3.6-1989 standards for audiometers.
  

Easy Compliance is Only Surpassed by Ease of Use

The integrated thermal printer gives you the results you need and is exceptionally user-friendly with “goof-proof” paper loading. Printouts clearly show results and feature five different printouts to display data the way you want it to look. Better yet, with NEXT, you simply touch the bright, full-color touchscreen to perform a test, which automatically detects a wide variety of subject errors for greater test validity. The NEXT audiometer makes the most of your time by:

• Delivering automatic instructions in twelve languages through headset for subject errors.
• Storing unlimited* number of subjects and audiograms.
• Updating on-screen audiogram graphs in real time.
• Reducing manual testing with Mark for Retest feature.
• And allowing for full manual control.
  
  *For over 2500 audiograms, Solo is recommended for more management and reporting power.
  

Data Integrity is Key!

Data Integrity: NEXT includes a USB flash drive (a key-chain-sized data storage device), which allows you to back up your data away from the audiometer to ensure data integrity.

Total Connectivity: NEXT can also connect to your company’s network (e.g. Microsoft SQL Server 2000™) to efficiently store audiogram data in a single network location, ensuring that you are always working with the latest data, and saving your resources for where they matter.

When used this way, test data is seamlessly stored in a single location and can be easily accessed later for more detailed analysis and reporting. Combine NEXT with Benson Medical Instruments’ Solo database on a network for best-of-both-worlds testing efficiency and data management.

Seamless Data Transfer: NEXT works with leading hearing conservation databases to make audiogram transfers easy and accurate.

Easy, Economical OSHA Compliance…Just Got Even Better!

Does your current audiometer meet current OSHA mandates? Is it easy to use? If not, NEXT is the perfect replacement! Now you can respond with ease to new interpretations, guidelines, and definitions in OSHA law.

Seamless Sound Solutions

Benson Medical Instruments (BMI) offers a seamlessly integrated Hearing Conservation testing system. This means each BMI industrial audiometer is designed to fully integrate the ability to test, store all data, and output all reports, with one easy-to-use piece of equipment. The NEXT audiometer is a cost-effective, stand-alone entry in the Hearing Conservation testing marketplace—a perfect replacement for an older, non-compliant audiometer.

BMI’s status as an ongoing industry innovator is reflected in its continued role as the sole developer and maintainer of audiometric equipment for the U.S. Military’s Hearing Conservation program since 1997.

Benson Medical Instruments
"Seamless Sound Solutions"

Call 612/827-2222 for an over-the-phone evaluation of your current audiometer, or e-mail sales@bensonmedical.com for the BMI dealer nearest you and a complimentary, on-site demonstration of the NEXT audiometer.

You can visit the bensonmedical.com website for detailed product descriptions, product comparison grid, new product press releases, and online purchasing power.

Benson Medical Instruments Co.
310 Fourth Avenue South
Suite 5000
Minneapolis, MN 55415
(612) 827-2222 voice
(612) 827-2277 fax
sales@bensonmedical.com
www.bensonmedical.com