Mail-In Audiometer Calibration for Virginia Employers

Mail-in calibration for Virginia 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 Virginia location with a calibration certificate for your hearing conservation file.

Virginia shipments reach Cincinnati by ground carrier, 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 Virginia

Virginia hearing conservation work is shaped by shipbuilding and repair around Newport News and Norfolk, defense contractors in Northern Virginia, and manufacturing across the Richmond and Roanoke regions. Noisy yards, machine shops, and test facilities keep programs active year round.

Medical offices, occupational health clinics, and school systems also send us audiometers, and we treat each one the same way on the bench.

OSHA and the audiometer in Virginia

Virginia operates VOSH, the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health program, as its state plan for most private employers. Federal 29 CFR 1910.95 is the reference many programs build on, and ANSI S3.6 calibration is the common benchmark for the instrument.

In Virginia, 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 Virginia.

Use a tracked, insured label for the trip out of Virginia. 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 Virginia

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

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

A booth in Virginia 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 Virginia 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.

Virginia cities we hear from

Mail-in works from every part of Virginia. Cities such as Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Richmond, Newport News, Alexandria, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Hampton, and Charlottesville 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.