Posted By naomi Hi All Can any one please give me some guidance. We have staff that man the phones at the Housing Association were I work. They have 8 hour shifts with a dinner break for 1 hour and can have regular tea breaks throughout the day. They use telephone head equipment to answer the phones so not to get WRULDS. They have been informed from the Occ Nurse that they all require hearing tests, if this is the case do I have to have a noise assessment carried out? and what would be the frequency that they should be subject to answering the telephones? Are they going OTT on this? Thanks Naomi

Posted By naomi Thank you

Posted By Kieran J Duignan Naomi ON the basis of the informnation in your question, it seems that the OH Nurse and perhaps you too are very, very seriously blinkered about the risks to the health of call centre operators. If you read the HSE report on hazards to call centres, it is stress as well as MSDs that are the critical hazards. One source of stress that a competent OH nurse should have emphasised arises from continous use of the voice at work, when the user does not have visual feedback from those with whom he or she is speaking. Routine guidance from the nurse appears to be a fragile basis for competent risk assessment and risk management. Read the relevant HSE research! Ask the OH nurse to read it before she offers guidance to your employees again!

Posted By Kieran J Duignan Anon No evidence is presented to indicate why a hearing test should be specifically conducted. In my opinion, the evidence indicates that an OH nurse stating what is comfortable for her to say rather than either legallly or scientifically justified. If you take the trouble to actually read relevant research you can see for yourself the evidence about the critical hazards to call centre operator.