The Occupational Safety and Health Administration removed a notice of proposed interpretation from the Federal Register last week that would have clarified the existing workplace noise standard to address growing instances of employees experiencing hearing loss.

Sens. Olympia Snow (R-ME) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) objected to OSHA's proposal because the co-chairs of the Senate Task Force on Manufacturing said the administration did not initiate an NPRM to seek public comment. This maneuver, according to Snow and Lieberman, would have allowed OSHA to avoid what the senators called "critical input" from small businesses.

In a statement, Snow said the proposed interpretation would have added to regulatory burdens already faced by small manufacturers that make navigating the troubled economic current even more of a hardship. She cited research that shows small business face a compliance cost per employee that is more than double that of larger companies.

"Hearing loss caused by excessive noise levels remains a serious occupational health problem in this country," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. "However, it is clear from the concerns raised about this proposal that addressing this problem requires much more public outreach and many more resources than we had originally anticipated. We are sensitive to the possible costs associated with improving worker protection and have decided to suspend work on this proposed modification while we study other approaches to abating workplace noise hazards."

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 125,000 workers have suffered "significant, permanent hearing loss" since 2004, including 22,000 individual cases in 2008.

Michaels added that OSHA will continue to take steps to mitigate workplace hearing loss. This includes conducting a thorough review of public comments submitted to the Federal Register; holding a stakeholder meeting on preventing occupational hearing loss to elicit the views of employers, workers, and noise control and public health professionals; consulting with experts from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Academy of Engineering; and  initiating a "robust" outreach and compliance assistance effort to provide enhanced technical information and guidance on the many inexpensive, effective engineering controls for dangerous noise levels.

"Interpretation of OSHA's Provisions for Feasible Administrative or Engineering Controls of Occupational Noise" was first published in the Federal Register last October.