Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs seeks public input on occupational hearing loss evaluation methods

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs is inviting public comment on the comparative reliability and validity of hearing testing methods and best practices for evaluating occupational hearing loss.

In a request for information, the OWCP is asking for input from audiologists, otolaryngologists, medical professionals, medical associations, employees, employers, insurance carriers, and other interested parties on the reliability and validity of audiograms compared with other objective tests, including the auditory brainstem response, auditory steady state response, otoacoustic emissions, and others. The agency is also soliciting comments on the current standards for administering these tests and the criteria used to evaluate hearing impairment.

Those interested in commenting should submit comments on https://www.regulations.gov, and include the agency name and regulatory information number for this rulemaking in their submissions. Commenters should not include personally identifiable information or confidential business information that they do not want publicly disclosed. Written comments must be received by Oct. 22, 2026.

The rulemaking docket, background documents, and all submitted comments will be available at https://www.regulations.gov. Although some materials, such as copyrighted material, may not be available through the website, the complete rulemaking record will be available for inspection at OWCP.

Read the request for information.