U.
S.
Environmental
Protection
Agency
Workshop
on
Hearing
Protector
Devices
March
27
­
28,
2003
(
Agenda)

Thursday,
March
27,
2003
8:
00
 
8:
30
Registration
Plenary
Session
8:
30
 
8:
45
Welcoming
remarks:
Kenneth
Feith,
EPA
Office
of
Air
and
Radiation
EPA's
purpose
of
the
workshop
and
the
anticipated
revision
of
the
federal
labeling
regulation
for
hearing
protector
devices.

8:
45
 
9:
00
Facilitator:
Stephen
Brightwell
Explanation
of
organization
and
operating
procedures
for
the
plenary
and
"
break­
out"
sessions.

Invited
Presentations
9:
00
 
10:
00
Dr.
Alice
Suter,
Suter
and
Associates
History
of
hearing
protector
labeling
rule,
its
intent,
its
use,
its
misuse,
and
why
there
is
need
for
regulatory
revision
10:
00
­
10:
30
Dr.
John
Franks,
National
Institute
of
Occupational
Safety
and
Health
(
NIOSH)
Comparison
of
the
regulatory
Noise
Reduction
Rating
(
NRR)
and
the
required
ANSI
S3.19
test
method
with
real­
world
outcomes
and
results
from
testing
with
the
new
ANSI
S12.6B
method
10:
30
 
11:
00
Dr.
William
Murphy,
National
Institute
of
Occupational
Safety
and
Health
(
NIOSH)
Deriving
a
new
NRR
from
ANSI
S12.6B
method,
inter­
laboratory
reproducibility
of
data,
precision
of
the
data
11:
00
 
11:
30
Dr.
John
Casali,
Virginia
Tech
(
w/
Gary
Robinson)
New
technologies:
active
noise
reduction,
sound
restoration,
and
passive
non­
linear
protectors,
and
the
development
of
ratings
systems
for
describing
them.

11:
30
 
12:
00
Elliott
Berger,
American
National
Standards
Institute
(
ANSI)
Rating
Metrics
for
Hearing
Protectors
12:
00
 
1:
00
Lunch
Offered
Papers
by
Interested
Parties
1:
00
 
5:
00
Presentations
of
formal
papers
by
interested
parties
­
15
minutes
each
with
5
minutes
for
questions
NOTE:
Presentations
will
be
given
based
on
the
order
in
which
they
were
received.

5:
00
­
5:
30
Dr.
Alice
Suter
Summary
of
day's
presentations
and
discussions
All
participants
should
meet
in
Room
1153
at
8
a.
m.
to
be
escorted
to
the
breakout
sessions.

Friday,
March
28,
2003
Breakout
Sessions:

There
will
be
three
breakout
sessions
that
will
run
concurrently.
Each
session
will
consist
of
two
parts,
i.
e.
morning
and
afternoon,
to
allow
registered
participants
to
attend
any
two
of
the
three
sessions.
Each
session
will
have
a
facilitator
and
resident
technical
advisor
8:
00
 
11:
30
Session
I
­
Hearing
Protector
Label
(
Room
4349)
(
Facilitator:
Clayton
Doak)(
Technical
Advisor:
John
Franks)
 
Primary
label
 
Secondary
labels
 
Placement
of
labels
 
Expiration
of
labels
 
Other
topics
 
Summary
8:
00
­
11:
30
Session
II
­
Noise
Reduction
Rating
(
NRR)
Strategies
(
Room
2379)
(
Facilitator:
Barbara
McKensie)(
Technical
Advisor:
Rick
Davis)
 
NRR
­
what
does
it
mean?
 
Use
of
mean
and
standard
deviations
vs.
other
descriptors
 
Relationship
of
NRR
to
environmental
noise
levels
 
NRR
and
implied
protection
from
noise­
induced
hearing
loss
 
Other
topics
 
Summary
8:
00
­
11:
30
Session
III
­
New
Hearing
Protector
Technologies
(
Room
5349)
(
Facilitator:
Alliston
Davis)(
Technical
Advisor:
Bill
Murphy)
 
Sound
restoration
systems
 
active
/
passive
non­
linear
devices
 
Active
noise
reduction
 
Communication
systems/
radios
 
Present
and
future
test
methods
and
metrics
to
describe
effectiveness
 
Other
topics
 
Summary
11:
30
 
12:
30
Lunch
12:
30
 
4:
30
Reconvene
Sessions
I,
II,
and
III
Session
I
­
Hearing
Protector
Label
(
Room
4349)
(
Facilitator:
Clayton
Doak)(
Technical
Advisor:
Rick
Davis)

Session
II
­
Noise
Reduction
Rating
(
NRR)
Strategies
(
Room
2379)
(
Facilitator:
Barbara
McKensie)(
Technical
Advisor:
Bill
Murphy)

Session
III
­
New
Hearing
Protector
Technologies
(
Room
5349)
(
Facilitator:
Alliston
Davis)(
Technical
Advisor:
John
Franks)

Plenary
Session
4:
30
 
5:
30
Facilitator:
Stephen
Brightwell
 
Presentation
of
Break­
out
Session
findings
and
recommendations
 
Dr.
Alice
Suter:
Conclusions
and
wrap­
up
 
Kenneth
Feith:
EPA's
regulatory
agenda
