The course runs from Monday to Wednesday from 8.30am to 4.30pm and Thursday from 8:00am to 4:00pm. Students are required to attend all sessions.

The Occupational Audiometry Course provides comprehensive training in the skills and knowledge required to conduct legislation-compliant occupational hearing assessments in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Course material is drawn from several key reference documents including:

• Work Health & Safety Act & Regulations (and state-based equivalents)
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice
• Australian Standard/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS1269.4
• NAL Report 80 Criteria for assessing hearing conservation audiograms

While conducting a hearing test can be perceived as simply “pressing buttons” there is far more involved in completing the task accurately and according to best practice. Our aim in this course is to produce “thinking” graduates who have the confidence and ability to consistently obtain accurate results and make correct decisions in routine and challenging testing situations.

The Occupational Audiometry Course is taught to small-medium sized groups. This allows our teachers to provide one-on-one, hands-on practical tuition and individually tailor each student’s development of key audiometry skills.

This course has been approved by Coal Services, and fulfils the training requirements for nurses to conduct NSW Coal Industry Order 43 health surveillance audiometric tests.

Also approved is our 2-day Intermediate Audiometry Workshop.

This course is primarily aimed at practitioners within the medical and occupational health sectors seeking audiometry training that’s fully compliant with workplace legislation, Australian Standards and industry best practice. Skills can be used for:

• Legislation-compliant in-company audiometric health surveillance programs
• Identifying and managing changes in employees’ hearing
• Contributing to the management of hearing loss within a company (referrals, ongoing management, etc)
• Enhancing the skills and knowledge of existing medical or occupational health service providers
• Practitioners and health practices expanding their range of services to corporate clients
• Company managers/staff seeking a thorough understanding of audiometry legislation and requirements
• Nurses seeking training to comply with the requirements of NSW Coal Industry Order 43

There are no formal pre-requisites for attending this course. The course does, however, include a lot of material and some study required in order pass the written and practical assessments. Those who have not undertaken formal study are encouraged to prepare or review study skills.

Once registered, students will be asked to bring to the course copies of two key reference documents:

• Australian Standard/New Zealand Standard 1269 Part 4 Auditory assessment.
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice (from your state government workplace safety body).

Links to Australian state/territory health and safety regulatory bodies can be found here.

To graduate from this course students must pass a practical assessment on the final day and a take home written exam.

On the final day students’ practical skills are formally assessed, using well-practiced templates and guides worked on during the course. At the end of the course, students are given a take-home, open book written exam which is due the following week. The pass rate for this course at first attempt is high (over 95%), although we offer supplementary assessments if required.

Course graduates receive a graduation certificate from The Hearing Company, Australia’s leading occupational audiometry course provider. The certificate describes competency in the key aspects of occupational audiometry as detailed in: AS/NZS 1269.4, Managing Noise & Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice and the Work Health & Safety Act & Regulations.

The skills obtained from this course can be used in any occupational audiometry setting in the Australia and the Asia Pacific region.

Here’s what some of our previous students have said about the Occupational Audiometry Course:

“A very high quality, interactive and engaging course. I felt well supported and challenged to steadily increase my knowledge and practical application. I discovered an unexpected intrigue with the human ear and hearing!”
Jennifer, Occ Health Nurse, South Australia (February 2019)

“The Occupational Audiometry Couse was fantastic. Great mix of practical and theory with excellent coaching from lecturers. I now feel confident with all aspects of audiometric testing and reassured by my greater understanding of Australian Standards. Overall an excellent course! Very enjoyable and informative. I would definitely recommend the course. Well done!”
Susan, Occ Health Nurse, South Australia (September 2018)

“A very useful course, professionally delivered by Glenn, with appropriate level of focus on practical skills, legislation, Standards and Codes of Practice. I strongly recommend the course to any Occupational Physician or occupational health practitioner dealing with noise management in the workplace.”
Dr Sasan, Occupational Physician, Brisbane, Queensland (March 2017)

Read more testimonials here.

What do the feedback forms say? Course evaluations from hundreds of students reveals:

• 98% were “confident in their ability to complete accurate hearing assessments”
• 90% noted that the course duration was “just right for the amount of material covered”
• 90% agreed that there was “a good mix of theory and practical teaching”
• 95% said the presenters and Skills Coaches were “knowledgeable, friendly and approachable”
• 99% would “recommend the course to others”

Please contact Lynne Miles, Course Coordinator, with any question or to discuss the suitability of this course for your requirements: 0478 776 039 or [email protected].

A range of teaching methods are utilised during the course to assist students to learn the key skills, including hands on practice, written exercises, role plays, industry anecdotes, visual and auditory presentations, quizzes, demonstrations and “at-elbow” supervision. We also aim to engage and challenge, and many graduates find the course to be interesting (and even fun!). Our teachers certainly enjoy what they do, and this comes out in the teaching.

We supply all practice equipment including audiometers, otoscopes and consumables. On the first day of the course students are issued with a comprehensive Course Manual and Workbook.

Lunch, morning tea and afternoon tea will be provided each day.

Course material is drawn from several key Australian audiometry reference documents including:

• Work Health & Safety Act & Regulations (and state-based equivalents)
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice
• Australian Standard/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS1269.4
• NAL Report 80 Criteria for assessing hearing conservation audiograms

• Conducting hearing tests on adults following the Australian Standard technique
• Managing the effects of background noise on test accuracy
• Conducting otoscopy (ear inspections) safely and effectively
• Analysing audiograms and applying referral criteria
• Accurately describing audiograms and presenting test results to workers
• Ear anatomy, physiology and common ear conditions in adults
• Conducting an effective case history
• Audiogram comparison guidelines (Australian Standard and other)
• Legislative and Australian Standards requirements for conducting workplace audiometry
• Requirements for NSW Coal Mining Order 43 health assessments
• Effects of noise and other hazards on workers
• Hearing protection and other strategies for managing exposure to loud noise
• Managing challenging testing situations
• Detecting and managing equipment faults

Yes, except in Western Australia.

Most states/territories follow the specifications of the Work Health and Safety Regulations (or similar), the Managing Noise and Presenting Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice and Australian Standard AS/NZS1269.4. The Occupational Audiometry Course provides full compliance with these key documents.

The WA government has specific, stringent requirements for conducting workplace audiometry and managing test results; and significantly different to the requirements in other parts of the country.

Yes, the course materials and skill set are drawn directly from the detailed list of 16 “competency requirements” for audiometric testers described in Appendix D of AS/NZS 1269.4; the primary reference document for conducting occupational audiometry in Australia.

In short, there is a lot of material to cover and skills to learn.

Our focus is on ensuring students complete the course with confident in their new skills and knowledge, and this takes time. We provide multiple one-on-one practice sessions, each building on the previous until students are capable of independently and accurately completing a full assessment.

The Australian Standard is also a very detailed document, and we need to time to both teach the material and allow time to discuss how to integrate into everyday practice in the workplace.

We acknowledge that people learn at different paces (some much faster than others) and in any group this is a challenge for the teachers. We’ve found that running the course over 4 days allows the majority of students to pass, without being too stressful for less confident learners.

The following fees are payable should a participant withdraw from the course:

• Following registration: 10% of full course fee
• Within 3 weeks of the starting date: 50% of full course fee
• Within 1 week of the starting date: 100% of full course fee

Yes, we accept transfers to another person but only within the same course. Deferring a registration to another course (different dates) is regarded as a cancellation.

No, passing the course is not guaranteed although the pass rate is high (over 90%).

Students must pass a written and practical assessments to obtain a Graduation Certificate.

To pass the practical assessment students are required to demonstrate “competence” (as specified in AS/NZS1269.4) in the key aspects of a hearing assessment. The written assessment is undertaken via a take home, open book test that is due the week following the course.

Passing the course usually requires some application, effort and study although most people do pass. We draw on over 15 years of experience (and enthusiasm!) with teaching over 1,200 students to design methods and materials to support the majority of students to learn what’s required over 4 days.

No, this is not required although students are welcome to bring equipment if they would like advice on how to use a particular audiometer.

We supply all required practice equipment, including audiometers, otoscopes and consumables.

Yes, the Occupational Audiometry Course provides up to 28 hours of contact and tuition, which can be claimed towards CPD requirements.

We conduct public courses several times a year in the location of most demand; usually Sydney, Brisbane or Adelaide.

We also regularly conduct in-company courses for organisations with multiple employees to be trained. This can work out as a cost-effective and efficient way to upskill a team. Our equipment and teaching personnel are completely portable.

We offer a range of courses focussed on conducting occupational audiometry. These include a half-day workshop on fitting insert earphones (which offer superior external noise reduction) through to 1 and 2-day courses which teach basic or fundamental audiometry skills. See our range our course here.