Hearing

I went for medicals recently last Friday and although I passed all others i failed due to hearing. I went again on Monday and the result was the same. I went to see my gp after and she said my ears looked fine after checking but she will refer me to a specialist. I believed I did well buy surprised I failed. I was told I have problem hearing the lowest sounds although I press the button in the booth only when I hear a sound. I am confused and kinda frustrated. Can anyone give me advise on what steps to take and how to go about it. I can not do the pts without passing the medicals?

The test is for the highest and lowest frequencies you can hear. As you get older you will naturally lose high range frequencies. Low tones I am unsure about. You can have good hearing and no visual damage to your ears but still have a degree of hearing loss. The booth test sends you random tones at various frequencies so you click when you hear something. If you don't hear anything, it may still be the case where they were playing a tone, you just couldn't hear it.

You can take the test online using various sources.

This is not bad (link to youtube frequency range test)
It starts off in the low range. Stick a pair of headphones on and sit in a quiet room. Play the video and take a note of when you first hear a sound. Also skip to the end and try and find your highest frequency too.

This is a good video about high frequency sounds and where the typical age will drop out



The medical standards for safety critical workers will list the frequency range you need to be within.


If your GP has checked your ears already, then they probably weren't blocked or filled with wax but some people have reported that after failing they had some waxy build up and just needed a quick clean out. Well worth retesting if that was the case.

Hearing and speaking requirements(3)
Sufficient hearing confirmed by an audiogram, i.e.—–hearing good enough to hold a phone conversation and to be able to hear warning sounds and radio messages.

The following values should be taken as guidelines—
(a) the hearing deficiency must not be higher than 40 dB at 500 and 1000 Hz,
(b) the hearing deficiency must not be higher than 45 dB at 2000 Hz for the ear with the worst air conduction of sound,
(c) no anomaly of the vestibular system,
(d) no chronic speech disorder (given the necessity to exchange messages loudly and clearly),
(e) the use of hearing aids is allowed in special cases

Guidance Notes
Infrastructure managers and railway undertakings should consider whether some occupations, even those where mandatory hearing standards currently exist, require additional or more stringent hearing standards in order to control other identified risks. This might be, for example, a train driver working on or near the line.

It should be noted that the widely adopted hearing standard for persons who are required to maintain their own safety when working on or near the line is that hearing loss should not exceed 30 dB averaged over frequencies 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 kHz in either ear.

Taken from the Medical Fitness for Railway Staff standards document.

Thanks for this.. I believe I am fine with the high frequency as what was mentioned to me was the low frequency... I did hear some low frequency tone but I guess I did not hear them all.. maybe I was not concentrating enough with the lows one.

Thanks for your response..

Dont' forget that it is also volume related. My Hz range from the first video starts at 50Hz and stops around 12,500Hz However, I'm playing it off Youtube, through my PC, over bluetooth, into a portable speaker. It's not accurate which is why they use those booths. You may only be able to hear it at a certain volume. You would have to play with your volume button during the range tests. Those videos will just give you a bit more insight.

Try a proper test online.

https://hearing-screener.beyondhearing.org/68LfTs/intro
(link is a hearing test from the Boots website)

I had something similar and was told that she was surprised how bad my hearing was in my right ear at my age and that I literally only just marginally met the criteria, I thought my hearing was fine though but the headset was creaky and I could hear noise going on elsewhere out the room, I was pretty sure that my hearing was fine, so I went for an independent hearing test and they said my hearing was pretty much perfect in both ears so not really sure what went on there whether it was dodgy equipment first time round or maybe I had some wax in my ear that became dislodged after the first test but I didn’t feel any difference in my hearing between one test and the other

I would suggest asking for a retest, myself.

Did you redo the test after the independent hearing test or that is enough for you to pass the medicals?

JLyons said:

I had something similar and was told that she was surprised how bad my hearing was in my right ear at my age and that I literally only just marginally met the criteria, I thought my hearing was fine though but the headset was creaky and I could hear noise going on elsewhere out the room, I was pretty sure that my hearing was fine, so I went for an independent hearing test and they said my hearing was pretty much perfect in both ears so not really sure what went on there whether it was dodgy equipment first time round or maybe I had some wax in my ear that became dislodged after the first test but I didn’t feel any difference in my hearing between one test and the other

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StephenHunter said:

I would suggest asking for a retest, myself.

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You mean independently or same centre?

Other important considerations:

Was the test done in a soundproofed room?

Was there any background/environmental noise during the test? This will have an impact on low frequencies.

Is there any family history of hearing problems?

Did you have a cold/blocked ears on the day?

Do you have difficulties hearing speech in the presence of background noise (i.e. more so than the average person)

Did you get a copy of the results? If so, can you PM to me

It may be worthwhile paying to have a private test done and make sure they include 3 and 6kHz, and unmasked and masked bone conduction (as appropriate)

Uploaded copy of the result hope y can see it

Islineclear3_1 said:

Other important considerations:

Was the test done in a soundproofed room?

Was there any background/environmental noise during the test? This will have an impact on low frequencies.

Is there any family history of hearing problems?

Did you have a cold/blocked ears on the day?

Do you have difficulties hearing speech in the presence of background noise (i.e. more so than the average person)

Did you get a copy of the results? If so, can you PM to me

It may be worthwhile paying to have a private test done and make sure they include 3 and 6kHz, and unmasked and masked bone conduction (as appropriate)

Click to expand...

Deji147 said:

Did you redo the test after the independent hearing test or that is enough for you to pass the medicals?

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I did just about pass first time round but I did have she did have to give me a second attempt at it on the day, not sure what would of happened if I failed it on the day then had an independent test and passed, but I would of challenged it for sure

StephenHunter said:

I would suggest asking for a retest, myself.

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You can ask but they dont have to let you.

JLyons said:

I did just about pass first time round but I did have she did have to give me a second attempt at it on the day, not sure what would of happened if I failed it on the day then had an independent test and passed, but I would of challenged it for sure

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Challenged to what end? It's possible they would have redone it but if you failed again then they dont have to employ you.

221129 said:

Challenged to what end? It's possible they would have redone it but if you failed again then they dont have to employ you.

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well it’s common sense isn’t it, if you have paperwork to say your hearing is ok then I would present them with that and ask them what the deal is and see where the conversation goes from there. There’s not much else you can do.

What did the eye test consist of? Do you cover up your own eyes with hands to read the board or got they do it like in Opticians with glasses on blocking each one out separately. Just went for a hgv/lgv medical and only had to block eyes with hands.