Smithfield, RI — Sperian Hearing Protection LLC, has announced the formation of a Hearing Conservation Department to act as a focal point for the company’s multi-faceted initiatives in research, training, and education, and to enhance its advisory role in standards regulation. Headquartered at the Howard Leight facility in San Diego, Calif, the new department is headed by Director of Hearing Conservation Brad Witt. Joining the staff as hearing conservation manager is Theresa Schulz, PhD, noted audiologist and hearing conservation specialist.

"Few audiologists in the world have the depth of Theresa’s expertise in hearing loss prevention," said Witt. "She brings a wealth of experience that will be a cornerstone of our hearing conservation team at Sperian." That experience includes more than 20 years in the military’s hearing conservation program, dozens of articles in scholarly publications, and more than 30 professional presentations to professional conferences. She has served as president of the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC) and just completed her tenure as president of the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA).

Her role, and the new Hearing Conservation Department’s mission, said Witt, includes the following:

  • Provide training and hands-on global implementation of VeriPRO, Howard Leight’s new industry-changing fit verification system for hearing protectors.
  • Create educational tools and training materials in support of safety and hearing professionals for use in their Hearing Conservation efforts.
  • Expand the role of Sperian Hearing Protection in regulatory and standards committees, as well as professional organizations and safety industry groups.
  • Support the Company’s hearing protector offerings (both in product and services), especially to military and government customers.

Schulz began her career in hearing conservation as an audiologist for the U.S. Army for 3 years, and continued in the U.S. Air Force for 18 years. Since her retirement from the military in 2004, she has worked in positions such as vice president of professional operations for Sonomax, and most recently at NIOSH where she was team leader of the hearing loss prevention branch. She is a certified professional supervisor for audiometric monitoring (CPS/A), a certified member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and a fellow in the American Academy of Audiology. Schulz received her BS (1981) and MA (1983) degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, and her PhD (1994) from Ohio State University. She was nominated by the Air Force for the 2003 National Public Service Award and received the military’s Outstanding Volunteer Medal in 2004 for her extensive work to prevent noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) both in the military and in the public sector.

Brad Witt has been an industrial audiologist for more than 25 years. He has degrees from Brigham Young and Northwestern Universities, and has practiced throughout the United States and the Middle East. For 14 years he managed Pacific Audiologics, providing hearing conservation services at 175 locations in the western United States. He is also a past president of the National Hearing Conservation Association (USA) and has been with Sperian Hearing Protection since 2004. Most recently, Witt has been recognized as Outstanding Lecturer in 2006 and 2007 at the National Hearing Conservation Association.

Source: Sperian Hearing Protection LLC