Solo Press Release—New Benefits
Easy, Economical OSHA Compliance…
Just Got Even Better!
Now You Can Track Separate Baseline Data, Consistently Revise Baselines, & Impeccably Implement Line-Outs
Minneapolis, MN, August 31, 2004—Benson Medical Instruments’ Solo™
Occupational Hearing Conservation DBMS already delivers easy, economical
OSHA
compliance by seamlessly integrating all aspects of your Hearing
Conservation program. Solo effortlessly creates easy-to-customize
Notification letters in 12 languages; produces individual and summary
reports; customizes medical history questionnaires and look-up tables;
generates Medical Referrals, calculates impairments, standard threshold
shifts (STSs), and recordable shifts; and transfers hearing data.
But ongoing new interpretations in OSHA law demand that new requirements
be easily adopted. How? Through regular software updates that allow
you to easily calculate and capture new interpretations, guidelines,
and definitions further clarifying OSHA regulations.
Track Separate Baseline Data
In 2003, OSHA issued an interpretation letter mandating that hearing conservation programs track baselines separately for each ear. Now Solo has been updated to capture this change so that you can seamlessly and easily maintain your OSHA
compliance.
Revise Baselines With Total Integrity
The language of OSHA regulations is not always clear and yet
compliance is based on these criteria. For example: “A baseline
audiogram may be revised in case of persistent STS or in cases
of significant improvement.” Deciphering the law and eventually
implementing a revision fall within the duties of a licensed professional.
And this is entirely appropriate and relevant when the issue is medical.
However, when it’s an issue of revising a baseline test for screening
purposes it only makes sense to have an automatic, uniform, and consistent
analytic tool available for easy implementation of a baseline revision.
Solo has impeccably captured and seamlessly integrated the baseline
revision parameters as outlined in a peer-reviewed paper (“NHCA
Professional Guide for Audiometric Baseline Revision”) published
in the CAOHC Hearing Conservation Manual. This paper not only describes
how to revise a baseline, but also establishes criteria for defining
a persistent STS or significant improvement. These peer-reviewed
guidelines are specific enough to be impeccably captured in Solo
so that all those working in the field of hearing conservation might
comfortably run the analysis for proven baseline revision. The methods
used in the “NHCA Professional Guide” have been accepted
by both NHCA and CAOHC.
Implement Line-Outs—Automatically & Impeccably
OSHA now mandates that certain standard threshold shifts must be recorded. Currently there isn’t a good way to reduce recordables unless you can document that the hearing loss is not persistent. This involves only a simple calculation, but because there are so many audiograms to consider it would be, at best, extremely time-consuming, and at worst, impossible to manage this comparison manually. This is where Solo comes in. One of its newest features specifically identifies line-outs. Calculations are incorporated that identify audiograms that might show a recordable shift only to have that shift reversed (with a lower number) in subsequent testing. When there is temporary hearing loss that is not persistent, this can be identified and documented as a line-out. Once this is done, then the subject’s name can be legally removed from the recordables list. This legitimate, ongoing analysis of all past recordable shifts is the only legal way to reduce recordables. And Benson Medical Instruments has the only occupational hearing conservation database to offer this automatic, analytical feature.
Seamless Sound Solutions
Benson Medical Instruments (BMI) offers a seamlessly integrated
Hearing Conservation Testing system. This means that each BMI industrial
audiometer is designed to fully integrate the ability to test,
store all data, and output all reports from one easy-to-use piece
of equipment. 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, or e-mail sales@bensonmedical.com
for the BMI dealer nearest you.
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
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