Mail-In Audiometer Calibration for California Employers

Mail-in calibration for California employers

Foster Special Instruments calibrates audiometers at our bench at 6941 Cornell Road, Suite B, Blue Ash, Ohio 45242, near Cincinnati. You ship the unit to us, we calibrate it to ANSI S3.6, and it comes back to your California location with a calibration certificate for your hearing conservation file.

California shipments reach Cincinnati by ground carrier or freight, and a tracked, insured label is the safe choice. We calibrate most major brands whether or not you bought from us, including Benson, Tremetrics, Maico, GSI, and Welch Allyn / Hill-Rom.

Who we serve in California

Southern California's aerospace plants, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the logistics operations behind them are heavy users of hearing conservation programs. Across the state, food processing, manufacturing, and large health systems add many more.

We calibrate for employers, clinics, and school districts in every region, shipped both ways.

OSHA and the audiometer in California

California operates Cal/OSHA, the state plan for most private employers, and its hearing conservation rule is Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, section 5097. Calibration to ANSI S3.6 is the benchmark for the instrument, and the certificate that returns with your unit is the record to keep.

In California, as everywhere, OSHA 29 CFR 1910.95(h) ties audiometric testing to audiometers that meet ANSI S3.6. The work happens in layers, and each layer has an owner.

• Daily: your staff listens to the audiometer and tests a person with stable known thresholds. This is the employer's check.
• Annually: an acoustic calibration check. Our bench covers this.
• Every two years: an exhaustive calibration. We perform this as well.

29 CFR 1910.95(h), Appendix E

Packing and shipping your audiometer

Pack the audiometer in its original case or a padded box. Send the headphones, bone vibrator, and response switch that you use with it, because they are calibrated as a set. Include the serial number, your company name, a contact person, and the return address in California.

Use a tracked, insured label for the trip out of California. When the unit is back on your bench, the certificate lists the results, and a reminder goes out before the next due date.

On-site visits and booth testing in California

Because California is far from our Blue Ash shop, mail-in is the practical path for audiometer calibration.

If a booth in California also needs its noise levels measured, call us and we will talk through what a scheduled visit would involve.

A booth in California that is measured on site against ANSI S3.1 gets its result printed as the Room Acoustics Level Test section on the audiometer certificate.

Loaners and other instruments

If your audiometer needs an extensive repair, we lend you a free loaner so your testing keeps going. Programs in California often send other instruments with the audiometer, which saves a second shipment.

• Spirometers and the 3 L syringes used to check them.
• Breath alcohol testers. We calibrate them and train technicians. Foster does not sell or perform drug or alcohol testing.
• Vision testers.
• EKG machines.

California cities we hear from

Mail-in works from every part of California. Cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Sacramento, Long Beach, Fresno, Oakland, Bakersfield, Anaheim, and Riverside are all reachable the same way, and so is any town not on this list. Call 513-891-0868 or see the main audiometer calibration page for the full service.