POLICY ON USE OF HEADPHONES WHILE WORKING

While some staff and students might like to listen to music wearing headphones for recreational purposes, this has health and safety implications in a work situation. This is irrespective of whether the headphones are connected directly to a portable/personal music system or operate via a radio link.

The main issue is that staff/students may not be particularly aware of any immediate hazards in their working area either arising from their own work or that of colleagues. The concern is that even if warnings were given verbally in the event of any incident they may be unable to respond because the volume of the music system would prevent such warnings being heard.

This concern is not confined to higher risk environments such as laboratories but also extends to offices and to other areas such as computer clusters. There are two concerns here, which also apply in the higher risk areas.

The first is that if the fire alarm system was to operate someone wearing headphones may either not hear the alarm or may take some time before realising that an alarm was operating. This then has implications for their safe evacuation from the building.

Secondly, headphone wearers may not be aware of others coming into their area and therefore may not be immediately aware of intruders who may pose a risk to their personal safety.

Because of this, the University Health and Safety Committee advise that Heads of Schools should not permit staff and students to use headphones for recreational purposes because it might jeopardise their personal safety.

It is recognised that there are however a range of activities where staff and students are required to use headphones as part of their work/study. In these cases Heads are advised to consult with the Safety Advisory Services to ensure that there are other appropriate measures in place to ensure the safety of such personnel.

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