CAOHC Certification: How to Become a Certified Occupational Hearing Conservationist (COHC)

CAOHC — the Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation — is the certifying body behind the COHC credential.

It approves the training courses and sets the exam requirement that produce the credential.

The credential itself is the Certified Occupational Hearing Conservationist (COHC).

To earn it, you complete a CAOHC-approved 20-hour course and pass the exam given at the end, and CAOHC lists no prerequisites for the course.

CAOHC's system has two other roles around the COHC.

Course Directors teach and run the approved courses.

Becoming a Course Director takes a qualifying professional license or certification, at least 1 year (1,000 hours) of hearing conservation work within the past 5 years, and experience assisting a CAOHC-approved Course Director on at least one occupational hearing conservation course.

There is also a Professional Supervisor credential, the CPS/A, which CAOHC limits to audiologists and physicians holding a current practitioner license.

Other professionals may take that course, but not its exam.

Two properties of the COHC matter for your career.

The certification is awarded to you as an individual, and only you can use it — even if your employer paid for the course.

And CAOHC positions it as proof of training: a minimum of 20 hours of instruction plus a national exam.

Start with the federal rule.

Under OSHA's hearing conservation standard, 29 CFR 1910.95(g)(3), audiometric tests must be performed by a licensed or certified audiologist, an otolaryngologist or other physician — or by a technician who is CAOHC-certified or who has satisfactorily demonstrated competence.

Any technician who performs those tests must be responsible to an audiologist, otolaryngologist or physician.

OSHA adds one more detail.

A technician who operates a microprocessor audiometer does not need to be certified, though that technician still answers to an audiologist or physician.

CAOHC's own FAQ puts the point plainly: certification is not mandatory under OSHA.

What the credential does, in CAOHC's framing, is document that a technician has met a high standard of training — a minimum of 20 hours of instruction and a national exam.

Mining works differently.

Under MSHA's noise standard, 30 CFR Part 62, tests must be conducted by a physician or an audiologist, or by a qualified technician working under their direction or supervision.

MSHA defines a qualified technician as one certified by CAOHC or by another recognized organization offering equivalent certification.

So the practical answer: the COHC fits technicians who perform audiometric testing inside a covered hearing conservation program and are not themselves the supervising audiologist, otolaryngologist or physician.

The job behind the credential — duties, employers, settings and pay context — is covered in our hearing conservationist career guide.

The route is short and linear: find an approved course, complete the hours, pass the exams.

Registration does not run through CAOHC — CAOHC publishes no single course price and does not handle course registration, so you book directly with the Course Director running the course.

Once certified, the scope of the role is defined.

COHC training does not qualify you — unless you are also a licensed audiologist or physician — to conduct testing beyond pure-tone air conduction, such as bone conduction testing or speech audiometry.

CAOHC's scope also assigns the COHC specific program duties: ensuring employees are notified in writing within 21 days after an STS — a standard threshold shift — is identified, and keeping up with the daily functional check of the audiometer.

CAOHC's course search lists three instructional methods: in-person, hybrid and virtual.

The search covers both certification and recertification courses, so you can filter for the format that fits your schedule and travel situation.

What CAOHC states is the requirement for the course types themselves: for both the 20-hour certification course and the 8-hour recertification course, participants must pass a national standardized written exam plus practical exams on audiometric testing and hearing protector fitting.

Because those practical exams are part of every certification course, ask the Course Director how a virtual or hybrid course delivers its practical portion before you book.

The course listing shows the instructional method; the Course Director confirms the logistics.

CAOHC does not publish a single course price.

Registration fees are set by each Course Director and vary by location, and CAOHC does not handle course registration.

CAOHC does sell an optional COHC Exam Prep tool.

When we checked CAOHC's page in October 2026, vouchers cost US$16 each when buying 10 or more, and access runs for 60 days after you redeem a voucher.

The credential itself lasts 5 years.

The 5-year period runs from the date you complete the course — not the date you take the exam.

Renewal runs through the 8-hour recertification course, which carries the same exam requirement as the certification course: a national standardized written exam plus practical exams.

Watch the calendar.

If you cannot recertify in time, CAOHC lets you request an extension, but the request must come at least 30 days before your credential expires.

Extensions are not granted after expiration, and a certification that lapses without one means retaking the full 20-hour certification course.

The demand side comes from regulation.

OSHA requires a hearing conservation program whenever employee noise exposure equals or exceeds an 8-hour time-weighted average of 85 dBA — the action level.

Audiometric testing is part of that program, and the (g)(3) rule above sets who may perform those tests.

In those programs, the testing technician can be the CAOHC-certified person on the team, responsible to the supervising audiologist, otolaryngologist or physician.

Mining employers fall under MSHA instead, where a qualified technician is one certified by CAOHC or an equivalent organization and works under a physician's or audiologist's direction or supervision.

Within a program, CAOHC's scope gives the COHC specific duties: pure-tone air-conduction testing within that scope, ensuring employees are notified in writing within 21 days of an identified STS, and the daily functional check of the audiometer.

Employers can verify a credential before they hire.

CAOHC runs an online verification tool that lets the public and current and prospective employers confirm that an individual holds a current CAOHC credential.

Whether a specific posting lists the COHC as a requirement is up to that employer.

Read each posting closely, and confirm any state-level expectation with your state's labor department or licensing board.

This page is career information, not licensing, legal, medical, clinical, billing or coding advice. Confirm current requirements with CAOHC, OSHA and your state's agencies before you enroll, test or hire.