“Technician Joe” is exposed to his high-decibel shop environment every day and eventual becomes a walking advertisement for hearing aids — don’t be like Joe
Let’s face it, we care about our health and that of our employees. Writing as someone disabled, I will say that staying as healthy as you’re able is the best course. While I and others cannot control everything that happens to us, there are things we’re able to control.
I have and continue to visit what must now be many thousands of shops. A change I saw starting to happen maybe 15 years ago — and building to huge numbers now — is that people are wearing headsets and ear buds for everything. Fun, work, you name it. According to a variety of data about 60% of boomers are against the phones and earbuds, while 60% of non-boomers are all for it. Not wanting to get into any war of generations, we’ll need to concede they are a big deal.
Before going further, this did start out as a project on ear buds in particular, especially when worn in our shops and businesses. Some early research done on just ear buds suggests that many are quite capable of delivering 100+ decibels(db) on a straight road to the ear drum. That’s a lot. Especially since tests by a variety of experts suggest that 8 hours of noise at or above 85db over time does cause hearing damage. If noise is higher than 85db, the allowable exposure time drops immensely.
As an example, we’ll take “Joe.” Joe works in an automotive shop. He is either wearing ear buds or is exposed to 85+db throughout the day. He goes to a club with loud music. Or, maybe a car race. More 85+dbs. Stops at a restaurant for a quick meal. More loud noise quite likely above 85db. Joe is a walking advert for the hearing aid industry, tinnitus or worse.
You may very well be asking, what has all this to do with me? Simple. As a person, you are responsible for your hearing. As an employer, you are also responsible for maintaining a healthy work environment. Including hearing health. If you don’t believe me, give the OSHA regulations relative to work place noise a quick once over. To make it easy, here’s a link to the site.
The typical body shop will average about 90dbs. A simple grinder generates towards 97dbs. Air and electrical tools are all noisy. Think about compressors and other shop based machines and tools.
To ear buds specifically, not only are they above 85db if being used to hear music, since the environment is already loud, they are also a safety issue. With ear buds in, a tech or yourself cannot hear …
- Cars starting and moving around.
- Machinery starting up around them.
- Customers trying to speak with them.
- Warnings shouted to them that could save their life.
They also cannot be part of the team. One cannot hope to hear the boss’s request, a customer asking a question and more. And they cannot easily focus on their work, a computer screen or manual.
And there is no such thing as multitasking. Your brain focuses on one thing at a time. If you are young, switching from one task to another comes so quickly that it may seem to you that you’re able to do many things at once. When in fact, you’re bouncing around quickly. As your age progresses this switching slows. You’ll say you’re no longer any good at multitasking, but it’s just the brain slowing naturally. I like to think it’s because there’s just so much knowledge in there!
When you look thru the OSHA and medical manuals, we as employers in the aftermarket have a responsibility. While you certainly won’t win employer of the year awards, we all must request the people working in our shops and businesses leave the ear buds behind when they are at work. And, while in our businesses, we must provide them with hearing protection and training.
You might make the argument that they’ll not use them anyway. I get that. However, if you have a short session with an expert at a training session along with some type of scheduled on-site hearing tests (same session) you may well enjoy a high compliance rate. And, it would be very helpful if, at least in the shop, you are wearing your protection as well. I have always had these nearby …
You might also try the push-to-fit style. In my experience, I ended up picking them up all day long after they roll off a desk or whatever. It is your call. One other positive of the banded style is that with something like the 3M Command clips they’ll hang nicely right at the bench or side of the tool box. Then on some regular basis, hang up a new pair.
Lastly, the hearing gurus suggest a “silent area” for breaks and meals. Could be just a small room with a door that closes. Or, a larger lunch room that is separated from the shop. Though I live up here in “da nort,” I always like a picnic table with an umbrella when weather allows.
We’ll wrap it up now. While, as usual I guess, it is adding one more thing to the pile, working to preserve your hearing and that of your crew, you will be doing all of your team a huge service. In my humble opinion, while the employees may never realize it, you really are the employer of the year!
At a young age, industry veteran Tom Langer started detailing cars for his family’s dealerships, which then led to work in the jobber and warehouse business, along with a machine shop and auto body shop. He held a variety of positions with an auto parts manufacturer for 10 years, and remained in the industry working with shops, warehouses and manufacturers in research and more.
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