Head phones, ear buds...

[DDoug]

My opinion is that from an HS&E perspective you wouldn't tell a guy not to use ear plugs if he feels the need to wear ear plugs. I am no lawyer but that's not a position I'd like to be in if he comes back and said my shop made him deaf.
So if earplugs are carte blanche you have no leg to stand on banning headphones/ear buds. They are both in or they are both out.
I wear earplugs all the time in the shop, hearing protection when running tractors.

You can easily still hear people when using them, not at all when having music blasting in your ears.

 

[M.B. Naegle]

We had a planned power outage last Monday as they're upgrading poles and wires down our street and for some reason it killed our shop stereo amp (none of the computers or machines thankfully). Ordered a new one that finally came in on Friday, and everyone was commenting how they hated how quiet it was.

We have some varying tastes in music among our crew, so we use Pandora with a mix of all the different stations (switches station after every song). We have everything from 40's thru 90's era stations, Techno/club type stuff, acoustic guitar and piano solo's, modern Country, 30's-40's Country, Latino, etc. We tried listening to one kind of music at a time and it tends to get old. As long as it isn't vulgar or excessively loud, everyone gets their say with the mix. We're had stupid drama where people can't stand some song, and the mix gets changed out fairly regularly, but honestly I think everyone is happier with something on the speakers rather than silence, and it's nicer having more specific music than the same five songs you hear over and over on the radio.

 

[Kingbob]

You can easily still hear people when using them, not at all when having music blasting in your ears.

fair point, I don't usually hire people under 30 anymore so I haven't had issues with the guys lacking the ability to self regulate. My whole shop runs on the idea of "don't mess it up for the rest of us"

 

[DDoug]

fair point, I don't usually hire people under 30 anymore so I haven't had issues with the guys lacking the ability to self regulate. My whole shop runs on the idea of "don't mess it up for the rest of us"

It seems the only people I see with either full headphones or ear buds have them so loud I can hear what crap they are getting pumped full of.

 

[Strostkovy]

So if another part of the building is engulfed in flames, but the sprinkler head hasn't popped yet, you keep working ?
How about a gas leak ? Approaching Tornado ?

Gas line in the shop are all disconnected, but yeah you're basically on your own for identifying an imminent catastrophe.

 

[Strostkovy]

I actually spouted off at my boss when he was shouting at me thinking I had earbuds in. In reality I had paused my music because I was trying to rehit a very important bend on a press brake and I was ignoring him trying to concentrate.
Once I was done it was a solid stream of expletives telling him to shut up and let me work uninterrupted for five goddamn minutes.

 

[mhajicek]

Any major alarms (fire etc.) should be visual as well as audio. In my case, if my wife needs to get my attention when I've got the headphones on she flicks the lights.

 

[chewietwo]

I have worked in a lot of tool and die shops and mold shops in my years in the trade. some allow a radio some allow ear buds. I myself i like to use ear buds when I'm running machines. i just don't have it up loud enough that i can't hear what is going on around me. I have found that when the guy are aloud to use ear buds it tends to keep the conversations to a minimum.

 

[boosted]

The safety and performance concerns are always bizarre to me. There are plenty of deaf machinists who get along just fine. I have worked with a couple over the years.

Last time this came up, somebody pointed out that the same bosses who want to micromanage earbud and cellphone use are the ones who complain that they can't hire anyone.

 

[mhajicek]

Last time this came up, somebody pointed out that the same bosses who want to micromanage earbud and cellphone use are the ones who complain that they can't hire anyone.

This is a very good point. I've worked as a programmer in shops with micromanaging bosses: "Why aren't you at your desk?! Is there a problem?! Get back to work!!" any time I tried to consult with a machinist on the floor. Morale was in the tank and productivity kept dropping over time as they cracked the whip harder. People couldn't get out of there fast enough as soon as they could line up another position.

 

[Clive603]

The safety and performance concerns are always bizarre to me. There are plenty of deaf machinists who get along just fine. I have worked with a couple over the years.

Different situation. When your hearing is bad, mine is so poor that medical opinion is that I shouldn't be able to function without a hearing aid, its bad all the time so your coping strategy is on all the time. You know its strengths and weaknesses so you can make an informed decision as to any hazards lack of audible perception creates. I binned my hearing aid about 54 years ago when I was 14 and haven't looked back. Stuff what the medics say. Playing about with the compensation capabilities of Apples AirPods Pro in transparent mode was interesting and, to be honest, potentially marginally useful but proved that paying a fortune for a modern digitally tailored aid wasn't gonna happen.

When a guy or gal with normal hearing shoves in a pair of super quiet earplugs or drowns the world out with headphones or earbuds they are removing aural sensitivity for a fairly limited environment with no feel for the other implications. They can have no idea of all the possible ramifications of what they have done should the situation change. Potentially a serious problem in an emergency because their general reactions tend to be wired into being able to hear. Reactions appropriate to not being able to hear can be learned for the regular things that happen. But an emergency may be the first and only chance to get it right.

I live in a world of ambient noise. No radio or other distractions. I need every bit of the limited aural sensitivity I have. Folk learn that I can't hear them from behind and will pay no attention until I'm finished with what I'm doing and am ready to switch attention. I know they are there of course but folk have to learn I decide where the attention goes not them. Training bosses got interesting a time or three!

Clive

 

[mhajicek]

When a guy or gal with normal hearing shoves in a pair of super quiet earplugs or drowns the world out with headphones or earbuds they are removing aural sensitivity for a fairly limited environment with no feel for the other implications.

Well, that's true if they're not used to it. If you work with earplugs, earbuds, headphones, etc. all the time, you'll acclimate pretty quickly. My noise cancelling over-the-ear headphones have a button right on the earpiece to stop the music, so I can stop it and take the headphones off in one quick motion if I need to hear.

You know what this reminds me of: when I was a kid, I always thought it was dangerous for someone to drive with only one hand on the wheel. Then after driving for a few years I started doing it myself, and I don't notice any significant loss of control, even in emergency situations. I think the headphones thing similarly looks disproportionally dangerous to people who aren't used to doing it themselves.

 

[604Pook]

I work by myself. I like podcasts and music... If I am alone in my head all day I would go crazy. I have both ear buds and shop stereo, if the machines are running and loud, I use the ear buds. no sense trying to hear my stereo over the machines, things will just be way to loud.

Anyone try the 3m noise canceling ear muffs with blue tooth? or any of the other brands? I like my ear buds but when my hands get dirty I don't like takign them in and out of my ears, if I am trying to listen to the tools cutting.

 

[Trevor360]

I work by myself. I like podcasts and music... If I am alone in my head all day I would go crazy. I have both ear buds and shop stereo, if the machines are running and loud, I use the ear buds. no sense trying to hear my stereo over the machines, things will just be way to loud.

Anyone try the 3m noise canceling ear muffs with blue tooth? or any of the other brands? I like my ear buds but when my hands get dirty I don't like takign them in and out of my ears, if I am trying to listen to the tools cutting.

I wear the ISOtunes Link 2.0 pretty much all day in the shop.

ISOtunes LINK 2.0 Bluetooth Earmuff | ISOtunes.com

Earmuffs. Done Better. Our best-selling earmuff got an upgrade. Featuring a padded headband cushion, up to 50 hours of battery life and a *boom microphone for crystal clear calls, LINK 2.0 is the Bluetooth earmuff you've been waiting for. *Boom Microphone sold separately. Add the LINK 2.0 and...

isotunes.com

They don't sound as good as nice noise canceling ones but they are better for you. Noise canceling does not remove all the noise that can damage your ears over time like these do. They also have a crazy long battery life, I would highly recommend. I sold my expensive Bose headphones after buying these because these worked much better in a shop environment. The 3M product is very similar I think.


When proofing out programs I lift one ear cup off so I can hear better, the rest of the time I have them on. As a one man shop owner working very long hours I listen to a lot of podcasts and audio books while I work. In December Spotify told me I listened to 175,000 minutes of podcast content last year…..

 

[Freedommachine]

Can you hear the fire/evacuate alarm ?

With all due respect, when was the last time you spent 10 hours tending a machining cell? Do that for 3 months with nothing but spindles and tool changers to keep you occupied and life gets pretty miserable.

If I miss the fire alarm and burn to death because I had Clint Black cranked up to loud, I'll own it lol.

 

[Sam I]

I've been using over ear bone conducting headphones in the workshop for a couple of years now and they've been great. They don't actually go in your ears so don't affect your ability to hear machines / coworkers etc but you can still hear your music just fine. In noisy environments I use ear plugs to protect my hearing regardless of whether I have music playing or not and these headphones work well with in ear plugs. Even with the music going (assuming it's not at max volume) I can hear the machines well enough to know if something's about to go wrong. I usually have my music off when doing first runs or difficult operations but that's more because I want to focus rather than not being able to hear what's going on around me.

 

[curtis r]

I actually spouted off at my boss when he was shouting at me thinking I had earbuds in. In reality I had paused my music because I was trying to rehit a very important bend on a press brake and I was ignoring him trying to concentrate.
Once I was done it was a solid stream of expletives telling him to shut up and let me work uninterrupted for five goddamn minutes.

You must really be loved by your employers. LOL