Posted By isfew Dear all, An interesting one. I recently held a noise course and the wearing of personal mp3 players and ipods came up. Generally their use appears to be just about anywhere these days. My question is that if an employer were to allow their use in the workplace, could we be storing up future trouble for ourselves? E.g My employer permitted me to use my personal player in the workplace and now my hearing has been affected so I intend to claim for damages. Your thoughts would be very much appreciated. Regards, Ian.

Posted By steve e ashton Discussed previously: http://www.iosh.co.uk/in...iew&forum=1&thread=26000 Steve

Posted By d88 I'm surprised any employer would allow any use of an MP3 player in work. Even in low risk jobs, issues such as being able to hear a fire alarm is pretty fundamental. I assume you also use your MP3 player outside work, so I'd certainly like to see how the employer was responsbile for your hearing loss. Not to mention your own responsibilities for your own health and safety in the work place !

Posted By Joan Blease I may have got this wrong Ian, but I am assuming that the e.g. you were referring to was hypothetical and not actually yourself. Given that it is hypothetical (I am sure that as a regular reader to the IOSH Forum you wouldn’t wear an MP3 Player at work!!) it is the duty of all employers to ensure that their employees do not acquire Occupational Deafness by being subjected to loud noise at work. As you know, noise could be generated by all manner of hand held tools or fixed equipment, so hearing protection should be worn to bring the dB level down to an acceptable level - thus reducing the risk of hearing damage. If the employee is wandering around wearing an MP3 Player in a noisy factory he/she will probably be turning the Player’s sound level up so that he/she can hear the music over the background noise of the factory. In theory, they could actually be damaging their hearing by listening to Radio One / Two, Snow Patrol, Megaeth etc etc. on their MP3 Player If the employee is working in an environment where the noise level is loud enough to damage their hearing, they should be wearing hearing protection and not an MP3 player. This misdemeanour should be tackled immediately by the Management. If the employee puts in a claim for Occupational Deafness it would be a very cleaver Barrister who could argue the case for a Company who allowed an employee to wear an MP3 player in favour of hearing protection knowing: 1) that the noise levels in the factory necessitated the use of PPE 2) that MP3 Players were being used in favour of PPE 3) that loud noise (from what ever source) could lead to a permanent hearing loss If the employee works in an office where there isn’t any noise and therefore no need to wear hearing protection, then it would be difficult to argue that their hearing loss was acquired by being subjected to noise at work. The wearing of MP3 Players in this case would also have to be a Management decision As always, I would recommend hearing tests for the employees which should be carried out following the British Society of Audiology’s advice email me if you want anymore info

Posted By Rob T Just an afterthought and to answer the direct question Ian - anyone using Ipods (and forget the whereabouts for a minute) would be regarded as being off on "a frolic of their own" and would also be subject to using the devices outside work. No judge, even in this day and age, could rule that any hearing injury happened at work due to the use at work.

Posted By Shaun Brennan isfew how can you claim for damages for wearing a audio device of your own choice, please dont get me wrong but dont you control the volume on the said audio device!!! Bugsy