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If people don’t work in high noise areas then listening to headphones all day could cause hearing damage, but as that damage is not caused by environmental noise at work the employer will not be liable for it. For low-noise areas such as offices, then that is purely down to company policy.
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We are looking specifically at using standard music headphones in a high-noise environment at work areas where hearing protection is needed. The employer can be held liable for those hearing losses as it cannot be proved it was the music and not the workplace noise which caused them.
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The high noise environment makes it more likely the user will listen at higher volumes to overcome environmental noise and this will damage hearing. The urge to wear them is perfectly understandable as on the surface of it they do reduce the external noise levels and the user can then listen to something all day rather than working in silence, but do noise cancelling headphones also work as hearing protection and can employers permit it?Ī problem with music headphones in a high noise area is that it is impossible to tell whether any hearing loss has been caused by the music or the environment. It is getting increasingly common to see people wearing noise cancelling music headphones when working in high-noise environments and the question often arises: “Are noise cancelling headphones OK to use as hearing protection at work?”.