[A proposal for a method of precalculation of hearing losses (author's transl)]

Three well-known procedures for the determination of auditory noxiousness from noise level and time of exposure are discussed and the theoretically expected 4 kHz hearing losses in selected textile and metal workers exposed to noise are compared with the measured PTS values. The method after Kraak showed the best correlation between noise load and hearing loss. On the basis of these results a noise level table with intervals of 2-3 dB between 85 and 110 dB(A) was developped, from which the noise load after 1 to 40 working years can be read off in figures. After evaluation of 256 noise opinions a method for determination of maximum noise doses is proposed. The table presented may be used in the determination of characteristic coefficients.