Chicago Audiometer Calibration, Scheduled as a Batch Trip

Plain talk about the distance

The drive from 6941 Cornell Road, Suite B, Blue Ash, Ohio 45242 to Chicago runs about five hours. That is long enough that we do not treat it as a casual same-week stop. We batch Chicago visits, which means we collect several audiometers, sites, or companies into one trip and set a date that works for all of them.

If you have a single unit, mailing it to our Cincinnati-area bench is the faster path, and we say so plainly. If you have a fleet, or neighbors who also need calibration, call 513-891-0868 and we will build a route.

The industries around the lake

Chicago and its collar counties hold some of the densest industrial land in the Midwest. Food processing plants, metal fabrication shops, packaging lines, and distribution centers surround the city. The cargo operations near O'Hare run around the clock, and rail and trucking terminals push freight through every night.

Those operations employ many workers who are enrolled in hearing conservation programs, and each program needs an audiometer with a current calibration record.

Metal fabrication and stamping shops west of the city tend to run loud impact equipment, while food plants add washdown lines, compressors, and refrigeration. Occupational health clinics at logistics hubs sometimes serve thousands of workers through a handful of audiometers, so the calibration record carries real weight.

Calibration steps at your site

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.95(h) refers to ANSI S3.6 for audiometers. Our work at the instrument follows the standard.

• Verify output levels at each tested frequency.
• Check frequency and distortion.
• Confirm attenuator linearity.
• Issue a certificate and set the next due date.

29 CFR 1910.95(h), Appendix E

Annual, exhaustive, and daily checks

An acoustic check is due at least annually, and an exhaustive calibration at least every two years. A large deviation at the annual check moves the exhaustive calibration up. The daily functional check belongs to your own staff. Employers with compliance-driven programs usually find that having the due dates tracked for them is the part that saves the most trouble.

Booths and quiet rooms

Food plants and warehouses often put the testing booth in a converted office. That placement makes ambient noise a real concern. We measure sound levels inside the booth to ANSI S3.1 and record them as the Room Acoustics Level Test section on the audiometer certificate.

A booth that was installed years ago can drift as seals dry out and ventilation fans wear. Measuring it during the same visit costs the employer no extra trip.

Cook, DuPage, Will, and the suburbs

Batch trips cover Cook, DuPage, Will, Lake, Kane, McHenry, and Porter counties. Stops often include Elk Grove Village, Franklin Park, Bedford Park, Bensenville, Schaumburg, Aurora, Joliet, Waukegan, Hammond, Gary, Elgin, and Naperville. Northwest Indiana is a natural part of the same run. Cargo and logistics employers near the airport are good candidates to share a date, since their sites sit within a few miles of each other and their audiometers often come due together.

Other calibrations worth adding

Because the trip is long, it makes sense to clear every due instrument at once.

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

Mail-in and loaners

For a lone audiometer, shipping to Cincinnati beats a five hour drive. A free loaner is available if a repair keeps your unit away for long. See our hearing testing page if you also want mobile clinics.