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GAO-18-109R 1 (2017-11-15)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaalie0001 and id is 1 raw text is: cGAO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 November 15, 2017 The Honorable Peter DeFazio Ranking Member Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure House of Representatives Commercial Aviation: Pilots' and Flight Attendants' Exposure to Noise aboard Aircraft Dear Mr. DeFazio: Airline pilots and flight attendants, working in the cockpit and cabin, are exposed to noise as a routine part of their jobs. This noise may come from aircraft engines during takeoff and landing or from high-speed air flow over the fuselage during flight. Exposure to elevated noise levels can cause permanent changes in hearing, diminished ability to communicate, and non-auditory effects such as fatigue. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which sets and enforces standards related to working conditions,1 established a noise exposure standard that requires employers to take certain actions when an employee's noise exposure reaches a level deemed to be unsafe.2 The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) assumed responsibility for the safety and health aspects of cockpit and cabin crewmember working environments in 1975,3 but in 2013, FAA announced in a policy statement that OSHA would have authority to enforce its occupational noise exposure standard in the cabins of aircraft in operation, where flight attendants work. You asked us to provide information on noise levels experienced by crewmembers on commercial service aircraft and their access to hearing protection. We examined: (1) what is known about aircraft cabin and cockpit noise levels compared with occupational noise exposure standards and (2) selected airlines' policies on hearing protection for crewmembers. To address these objectives we reviewed FAA's regulations and guidance pertaining to interior aircraft noise, the occupational noise exposure standard from OSHA, and the recommended occupational noise exposure limit from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). We assessed OSHA's data on enforcement activity related to aircraft noise from August 2013, when OSHA assumed its authority to enforce its noise standard in the cabin, to May 2017. We also reviewed FAA's analysis of four safety and oversight databases to identify reports on aircraft noise made in the previous 5 years and data from the Aviation Safety 1 OSHA is charged with enforcing the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act), Pub. L. No. 91-596, 84 Stat. 1590. 229 C.F.R. § 1910.95. 3 Under 29 U.S.C. § 653(b)(1) of the OSH Act, OSHA is precluded from applying its occupational safety and health standards to the working conditions over which a federal agency has exercised its statutory authority. FAA exercises its statutory authority pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 44701. GAO-1 8-109R Commercial Aviation Page 1

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