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Personal Radios In The Workplace
Question:
Is there anything posted by OSHA, DOL or any other authority that you might think of that would prohibit personal radios or mp3 players in an industrial workplace setting. This question seems to be getting out of hand and the only way to administer a policy to be consistant would be a safety regulation stating no use of same.
Signed,
No Use
Answer:
Dear No Use:
Safety is the most important concern; however here are some thoughts, which I wrote to someone in a government office setting, but which could apply to an industrial setting as well.
1. The issue of whether or not to allow the use of MP3 players includes a variety of issues that should be considered before a decision is made.
*Can employees do their work effectively and safely if their ability to hear and respond to noises around them is obstructed partially or completely? (The answer to that question will depend upon the overall work environment and specific tasks.)
*If the task normally requires wearing ear protection, could a listening device provide sufficient consistent and continuous protection? (The answer to that question would be no, and there are OSHA regulations about the requirements for hearing protection.)
*Could listening to music or any other noise through ear-buds or headphones for hours at a time daily, cause hearing damage? The answer to that is yes, based on many studies about it. Could the organization be held liable for encouraging such continual use, even if it is not required? That depends on the views of a jury or judge—or the need for an out of court settlement.
*Does wearing ear-buds or headphones have a negative affect on human interaction that is beneficial for doing the work or for developing the appropriate team environment?
*Could listening to music, books or other audio entertainment cause employees to do something that would be distracting or irritating to others. If so, how will that be prevented or what will be done about it? (One supervisor told me that one employee would hum or sing along to the music, while another would move his head back and forth or play an air-guitar!)
*Could listening to music, books or other audio entertainment distract an employee to a problematic degree?
* If listening to music is approved, listening to books, e-magazines and radio stations and will also be possible. Will any one of those not be acceptable, and if so, how will it be possible to know what is being heard?
*It is difficult to discern one electronic device from another. An MP3 player may look like a phone, audio-video recorder or camera. Is there some aspect of the work that should not be recorded or photographed, thus making any easily-accessible electronic device a potential problem?
2. A new policy about the use of mp3 players and similar devices, should be considered one of organization-wide significance. If a decision is made about it for one group of employees, other groups or individuals will either want to be exempted or want to be included. So, this isn’t a decision to be made by department-level supervisors and managers or HR, without approval from a legal section if you have one, and preferably the CEO or other high level decision-maker. If your organization is unionized, a careful review of any contractual issues that might be involved would also be a good idea.
3. The varying degrees of sophistication about ear-buds or headphones should be considered. Some will completely block any outside sound; others will shut out small sounds in the immediate vicinity; others will allow some outside noise to come through. Is the working situation such that there is a safety reason to hear small sounds as well as large ones in the environment?
altınaltın fiyatlarıforex nedirbanka faiz oranlarıFor example, in one office employees were stopped from wearing such devices because those who wore them seemed to not notice the phone ringing on the first few rings, often talked too loudly to each other, and had to be touched on the arm to get their attention when someone wanted to talk to them. In similar offices employees watch for the light on the phone and seem to have no problem answering quickly. In other work settings the concerns may be different or not exist at all.
4. Some listening devices will contain the sounds within the ear of the listener while others will allow sound to leak out and be heard to some degree by those near the listener. Is the environment such that there is no risk of distraction to those near employees who are using such devices? These are the kind of things that can create long-term animosity.
5. Not all employees will want to wear listening devices. Will there be adverse results for them? Will they create adverse results for others? Will conflict be created or reduced if some employees are listening to audio entertainment while some are not? Will supervisors and managers also be allowed to listen to audio entertainment?
6. As always, supervision is the key to success, no matter what is decided. If supervisors are openly negative about the policy there will be resentment and resistance by employees. If supervisors consistently and in a civil manner, enforce the policy, it will soon become the norm.
dövizdöviz kurlarıdöviz fiyatlarıdolardolar kurueuroeuro kuru7. It might be beneficial for a supervisor to wear an MP3 player and listen to music while walking through the workspace and stopping to perform some repetitive as well as non-repetitive tasks. That would allow a better understanding of what would be heard or not heard, and the affect it might have on work for most employees. This is not a decision that should be part of a democratic vote. It is a management decision about the work environment.
ev kredisi hesaplamakonut kredileriuygun ev kredisiCheck our Archives for other Q&As on this topic, and please send us what you and your organization sets as policy. If we get more information, that will be forwarded to you.
Tina Lewis Rowe
