We have an employee who has been diagnosed with a condition called Cacophony. It relates to loud harsh or strident noises and or loud confusing/disagreeable sounds which is causing him stress. Although I believe the workarea is below the action levels, I will be confirming this via measuring the noise levels. Has anyone come across the condition within the workplace and how was it managed? Any help or suggestions will be much appreciated.

I've heard of this in an Education context, and understand that this as a "spectrum" disorder akin to ADHD and the like (apologies to the experts if that isn't quite correct or PC). Some pupils would "kick off" when distracted by cacophony (i.e. din) in the classroom, playground, dining hall etc. Never heard (no pun intended) the word used in a diagnosis context. Dictionary meaning of the word does fit the situation though. A tricky "reasonable adjustment" issue for you.

I'm assuming the person is noise sensitive? You might find the noise levels are excessive when recorded but that the person just finds it diffucult to concentrate when there is lots of background noise. You could ask them to keep a "noise diary" for a month or so and document when and where they find the noise an issue. I had a member of staff in an office that was noise sensitive and complained of excessive office noise "all day, every day". When we went through the diary after 6 weeks, there was a clear pattern to the noise levels - Monday morning bad! The rest of the time although there was the occasional note (team meeting held in room sort of thing) or she hadn't recorded anything so noise wasn't an issue that day. Had a meeting with her line manager to see if there was anything that could be done - her coming in a bit later once the rest of the staff already in and settled / working in a different room until a specific time of the day on a Monday etc...left the day to day aspect with the manager though. Seems to have helped as not had any other reports from her since and she was happy that someone at least took her concern seriously. Perhaps worth a try if the noise levels aren't excessive

What a coincidence!....... I have just been having a lengthy conversation with a collegue about someone who uses our sleeping accommodation and they have notified us about being hypersenitive to noise (not sure if it is the same as 'cocophony'). The person is elderly and, they say, excessive noise could trigger a heart attack, (we are seeking medical advice). The individual concerned is particularly concerned about the fire alarm sounding at more than 75dbA. They have asked if we can turn down the sounders in the sleeping areas(!!?). Anyway I will be interested to see how this thread develops and the issue of fire alarm noise may give you something else to ponder on.

Sweeney I've not previously heard of cacophony as a medical condition, simply a word for a collection of loud discordant sounds. However, from your information, it's possible that the employee has hyperacusis which is a widely recognised medical term for over-sensitivity to sounds/noises which pose no problem for other people. This can arise from physical impairment of the hearing mechanism in a person's inner ear or a 'software' problem involving how the brain receives and interprets signals sent to it from the ears. In some cases it can be linked to stress and/or tinnitus, i.e. the experience of 'hearing' noises such as ringing or buzzing which is not caused by sounds outside the ears. If the employee hasn't already been referred to an ENT specialist, it would be worthwhile for him/her to request this in order to investigate possible causes and treatments.

Sweeney Graham makes a great point re tinitus Ron mentioned spectrum disorder/ ADHD. Dunno about ADHD but folks on the Autistic spectrum are known to be hypersensitive to both noise, touch and light intensity in some cases. Personal experience with an autistic son is that volume is not the problem as much as high frequency and high volume. Prime example is the Dyson air blade hand dryers we have in our local cinema, these set off my son every time; very intense, loud and lots of high pitch frequencies. If someone is on the spectrum and functioning well enough to hold down a job they will have learnt to adapt to most of the things neurotypical people take for granted. Shrill noises are pretty rare day to day, this may be one of those things they need time to adapt too, or extra help in dealing with. I would ask the person how they feel about the fire alarm. A colleague recalled how after a drill in their workplace they found a member of staff cowering under their desk sucking their thumb, completely wiped out by the alarm. Who knows what that poor persons story was but they were in total and abject fear/panic. I tell this as an illustration of how varied and colourful humans are, it may or may not be of interest to this particular case. Jeff