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<section article="gle" article_name="Labor and Employment" number="9-650" title_number="9" title_name="Workers' Compensation" subtitle_number="6" subtitle_name="Benefits">
  <level label="a">
    <level label="1">
      <text>Hearing loss shall be measured by audiometric instrumentation that meets the following criteria:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>ANSI 3.6–1996;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>ANSI S3.43–1992; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>ANSI 3.39–1987 or any ANSI standard that supersedes the previous calibration or measurement criteria.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Measurements shall be conducted in a sound room that meets the ANSI 3.1–1991 criteria for maximum permissible ambient noise for audiometric test rooms.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>Behavioral psychoacoustic measurements shall be obtained with instrumentation that utilizes insert earphones, as referenced in ANSI 3.6–1996.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>Electrodiagnostic measurements such as auditory evoked potentials, acoustic emittance measurements, or distortion product otoacoustic emissions may be obtained to determine the nature and extent of workplace hearing loss.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>Audiologic results shall be used in conjunction with other information to evaluate a claimant’s compensable hearing loss.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <level label="1">
      <text>The percentage of hearing loss for purposes of compensation for occupational deafness shall be determined by calculating the average, in decibels, of the thresholds of hearing for the frequencies of 500, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, and 4,000 hertz in accordance with paragraph (2) of this subsection.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The average of the thresholds in hearing shall be calculated by:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>adding together the lowest measured losses in each of the 5 frequencies; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>dividing the total by 5.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>To allow for the average amount of hearing loss from nonoccupational causes found in the population at any given age, there shall be deducted from the total average decibel loss determined under paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection one–half of a decibel for each year of the covered employee’s age over 50 or for each year subsequent to the date of the covered employee’s last injurious exposure to industrial noise, whichever is less.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <level label="1">
      <text>If the average hearing loss in the 5 frequencies determined under subsection (b) of this section is 25 decibels or less, the covered employee does not have a compensable hearing loss.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>If the average hearing loss in the 5 frequencies determined under subsection (b) of this section is 91.7 decibels or more, the covered employee has a 100% compensable hearing loss.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>For every decibel that the average hearing loss exceeds 25 decibels, the covered employee shall be allowed 1.5% of the compensable hearing loss, up to a maximum of 100% compensable hearing loss at 91.7 decibels.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <text>The binaural percentage of hearing loss shall be determined by:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>multiplying the percentage of hearing loss in the better ear by 5;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>adding that product to the percentage of hearing loss in the poorer ear; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>dividing that sum by 6.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <level label="1">
      <text>In determining the percentage of hearing loss under this section, consideration may not be given to whether the use of an amplification device improves the ability of a covered employee to understand speech or enhance behavioral hearing thresholds.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <level label="i">
        <text>In determining a workers’ compensation claim for noise–related hearing loss, audiologic data shall use both bone conduction and air conduction results.</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>If a conductive loss is present, the bone conduction thresholds for each ear, rather than the air conduction levels, shall be used to calculate a claimant’s average hearing loss.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
