Hi, 

I am looking for some advice on listening to music at work. I currently have 3 grounds persons who listen to their ipods through earphones underneath their ear muffs while using the likes of ride on lawnmowers and strimmers etc. I am 50/50 on whether or not the risk level is high enough to ban their use. They do carry out some works near pathways and roads but most of their work is isolated in grassy areas with no pedestrians or traffic. Any advice would be much appreciated and please no "carry out a full risk assessment" answers if at all possible :-). 

Regards, 

rsherl01

you can get some ear defenders that have a radio built in to them, have a look at arco, also ones that can have radio for chat to others working near by, perhaps that is a compromise to the lack of audio-visibility that earphones provide, (and can be assessed as suitable for use in noisy enviroment). 

don't think the earphones are a good idea personally, as the individuals will be accused of having insufficient awareness in the event of an accident, and you for not putting a stop to the heinous crime of wanting some music whilst doing a job out in the sun, in addition you'd have to consider the noise impacts for them in your noise surveys etc for industrial deafness, introducing testing and verification regieme for everyone's earphones and phones, which I wouldn't think you'd want to be responsible for if you can avoid it. (recording model, serial no and testing phones, perhaps issuing earphones etc).  

https://www.castleshop.co.uk/accessories-and-other/ppe/3mtm-peltortm-standard-headset-06xh001650932.html for earmuffs with speakers & mic. 

you can also get moulded ear plugs which can have radios in them too,- perhaps speak to an organisation doing sampling like cirrius research or castle group.  

Edited by user 08 September 2017 11:01:49(UTC)  | Reason: added link to earmuffs

at an iosh event about a year ago, castle said they thought ipod & earphones etc would be the next "ppi".

how you enforce your rules on remote workers is difficult,

especially with cyclists, earphones etc issues and road traffic issues

- would think you have to stipulate off whilst driving to-from worksite on the road from a road safety & awareness perspective. 

With the regards to a potential claim for hearing loss I really do think this is a red herring. There must be some personal responsibility for one's actions, if they choose to listen to Def Leppard at 100 dBA that is their choice!

My main concern would be a loss of situational awareness and concentration. Although if not on a street or highway it could be argued there is little risk. It's one of those things you either prohibit or not, there is no half way house. The problem would be in monitoring the policy.