Injured by a Telephone

[Jerry 75]

in the telephone triage field we don't have stethoscopes, ekg machines nor sat meters instead out tools are the computer and the phone. when our tools malfunction or are not operating at peak performance it effects our productivity, and can and does cause us physical harm.

i know of many of my collegues who have sustained injury thru phone use at work. many don't even realize that they have been injured, others minimize their injuries and others are afraid to file a comp report for fear of rreprisal from management. just look how often we get static on our phones or back ground noise or yelloing or loud argumentative patients. we also get occasional shrieking sound spikes or barely audible calls but full of other static noise, repetative beep tones etc.,

4) acoustic shock is a growing problem in workplace environments where headsets find extensive use, such as call centers and switchboards. during each day, a headset user may hear whistles, feedback, high-pitched fax/modem sounds and even loud hang-ups from irate customers.

1) so what is acoustic shock anyway?

put simply, it is a phenomenon that can occur when unannounced sounds - ones that are materially different to normal speech - travel through a telephone line or a web interface in the space of under 16 milliseconds, and in to the headset.

these sounds may be characterized as having a specific tone (frequency) or a very fast rise in the 'peak energy' of the sound, so resembling a bang or clang. the resulting symptoms include pain and tinnitus. it can also cause hypersensitivity to sounds (hyperacusis) among other problems.

when i looked into this acoustic shock issue i was not aware of how many people had been injured in this way. look at the following stats:

2) to-date more than $17 million has been paid out world-wide in claims

and this is set to grow if employers do not get to grips with the problem

5) call center noise hazards place operators at riskacoustic shock is a sudden spike of noise; a hazard faced by 1 million call center operators. it can lead to physical problems such as tinnitus, and emotional problems, such as anxiety and depression.

research by the uk's health and safety executive (hse) showed 30 percent of call center employees interviewed claimed symptoms of acoustic shock. potentially this suggests that 300,000 uk operators may be acoustic shock victims.

2) acoustic shock in headset wearers: the medical and legal view

the physiological effects:

the evidence collected by interview and measurement to-date

has identified certain characteristics that can give rise to an acoustic shock injury. some

examples might include:

* signal breaks resulting in white noise or shriek type noises

* loud bangs or clangs, a function of a phone being dropped.

* lightning strikes.

* in an emergency response environment the presence of loud obtrusive alarm sounds

* the increase in malicious calls involving whistles being blown down the line etc.

* misdialing into modem type lines.

such noises are termed 'acoustic shrieks' or acoustic shocks. on their own such events are

most likely to give rise to short term effects like tinnitus and reflex pain.

however, if such events are poorly handled within the workplace then far more serious issues

arise. there is already evidence that once a person has experienced an acoustic shock event they

become more aware that this could happen again. this may not seem especially important but

such anxiety can give rise to changes in behavior that can have very serious consequences.

once a person is 'sensitized' the fear of another event can start to affect their performance

and their ability to do their job. this can lead further to noise hyper sensitivity that can seriously

undermine their ability to do their job. if no action is taken, this will develop further into anxiety

based depression.

the problem here is this; an event that starts as an acoustic shock episode with fairly broad

symptoms can, if not properly managed, develop into a full-blown mental illness. the link

between anxiety developing into depression is documented in libraries of literature. the issue

here is that this progression is independent of the initial trigger.

so one can see that a key component of any control strategy or company policy is to make

sure that you never allow an acoustic shock experience to get to the anxiety stage.

there are many different s & s of acoustic shock as illustrated in the table below in a table prepared by janice c. milhinch phd,audiologist

3) as table 2 indicates, headaches and physical sensations of numbness, a burning feeling in the ear or face, tingling, a warm or hot ear or face, a feeling of pressure or fullness in the ear, and an echo or hollow feeling in the ear were frequently reported. in cases of moderate to severe acoustic shocks, operators typically described the acoustic incident as "like being hit over the head" or "stabbed in the ear." some operators became tearful, began to shake, and several hours after the trauma, developed fatigue and slept for an unusually lengthy period.

in a significant number of cases, pain and unusual sensations consistently recurred when the individual experienced any moderately loud sound, similar in pitch to the acoustic incident itself. psychological symptoms included anxiety and depression, anger, feelings of vulnerability, and persistent hypervigilance. the data also showed that individuals who had experienced more than one acoustic shock were more likely to have most severe symptoms and a longer recovery time.

so whats being done by government and big business to prevent acoustic shock injuries?

below is a table from the european union's noise at work directive

4) recent acoustic shock legislation

the european union's noise at work directive, effective since february 15, 2006, documents new rules for protecting on-the-job hearing and draws increased worldwide attention to these problems. the directive basically deals with two types of noise-induced hearing damages:

1. acoustic shock, and

2. excessive noise exposure during a work day.

up to 80dba, the employer has no obligations. between 80dba and 85dba, the employer should offer hearing protection and education. for levels exceeding 85db, employees must be provided with (and wear) hearing-protection equipment. the directive also sets a limit to the sudden loud sounds associated with acoustic shock. the limit is 135dba, which is comparable to standing next to an airplane taking off.

references

1) acoustic shock the facts you need to know article is from "the call center helper"-http://www.callcentrehelper.com/acoustic-shock-the-facts-you-need-to-know-43.htm

2) acoustic shock in headset wearers: the medical and legal view by by paul jenkins http://www.connectionsmagazine.com/papers/6/14.pdf

3) acoustic shock injury: real or imaginary?

janice c. milhinch phd, audiologist, melbourne, australia 6/17/2002

https://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/article_detail.asp?article_id=351

4) regulatory commissions sound off about acoustic shock by david coode, on semiconducter--edn, 3/31/2008

http://www.edn.com/article/ca6545956.html

5) call center noise hazards place operators at risk nov 5, 2004 12:00 am, by sandy smith, ehs magazine

http://ehstoday.com/news/ehs_imp_37279/

i would like to hear from nurses who have or might have incurred sound related injuries from their headsets. i hope you all reported the incidents. i would also like to her form those who sustained injury and did not report it

[dandalora1]

Hi Mike! Wish I would have found this earlier! Yes, Absolutely I had problems! I posted on here somewhere about the company I used to work for. WC did nothing! I had tinnitus, vertigo, losing my balance, near syncope episodes, fullness in my ears, confusion, numbness to my left side of face where I used the headphones the most, headaches, sometimes my speech was babbled. This is no lie! A few other nurses were telling me they were starting to experience these things as well. All of us were afraid to do anything for fear of termination. I went out on sick leave, unpaid. I tried to get my company to help me and file WC Workmens Comp but it was like pulling teeth or getting an act from congress for them to do something. I even called osha and no one would do anything. One nurse who has worked there for over a year said she has lost hearing in one ear now! This headset business is too big to fight. They have lobbyist and the politicians won't do anything about the dangerous exposure to radiation EMF damage! No lawyers will take the cases, osha won't investigate, WC is a joke and you are ultimately forced/starved out. I have to say that I refused to wear the headsets and was not allowed to come back to work unless I did. So I had no choice. Also, a few months later my symptoms slow disappeared! So Yes, there is a problem but nurses, call center employees, are afraid to act. No one will help us.