Health and safety at work

gazza7788

hi

As a newly appointed health and safety representative at my work place,i would like to ask some advice from you guys.
I work in a stores enviroment and i believe there is an ongoing issue in this area with a Hi-fi (radio) that is used by members of staff.
There have been complaints made to me about the loudness of this radio playing in the workplace and depsite repeated requests to turn it down,they are either ignored or the radio is turned up after a short period of time after turning it down in complete disregard of the requests ti turn it down.
The music is so loud sometimes that i beleive there are human factors issues coming into play on this regarding fellow work colleagues being able to concentrate on the job in hand and also health and safety issues as there are fork lift trucks operating in the immediate area of the radio.
Therefore,can i ask any experts on here on any advice of the type of wording of a letter(email) i could send to my manager and my health and safety department highlighting this issue.
Are there legal limits on how loud a radio can be?
If so should i ask my health and safety department to investigate.
Any advice on this issue would be helpful and appreciated

Thank you

Gary

ohreally

Are you a trade union appointed safety rep? If you've not already done so, get on a course http://www.unionlearn.org.uk/education/learn-3631-f0.cfm

http://www.hse.gov.uk/noise/employers.htm


Noise levels
What are the action levels and limit values?
The Noise Regulations require you to take specific action at certain action values. These relate to:

the levels of exposure to noise of your employees averaged over a working day or week; and
the maximum noise (peak sound pressure) to which employees are exposed in a working day.
The values are:

lower exposure action values:
daily or weekly exposure of 80 dB;
peak sound pressure of 135 dB;
upper exposure action values:
daily or weekly exposure of 85 dB;
peak sound pressure of 137 dB.
The actions you need to take are described in the rest of the employers' web pages. The flow chart[7] in Figure 1 will also help you decide what you need to do.

There are also levels of noise exposure which must not be exceeded. These are called exposure limit values:

daily or weekly exposure of 87 dB;
peak sound pressure of 140 dB.

DVardysShadow

It is not just a matter of the radio being turned up, it is a matter of who is turning it up and what they have been told so far.

But quite aside from that, even though I hate loud radios, I have to ask whether there is a genuine H&S issue here or just a spurious association. Treating the matter as H&S is justified if for example it affects safety critical communications affecting forklift operations or perhaps if the radio is so loud that it risks permanent damage to people's hearing. But if this is more correctly classified as one group of employees annoying another group - or just annoying you alone, deal with it under that head and don't abuse the role of H&S rep or the whole concept of H&S to deal with something which could be better dealt with outwith the H&S framework. Otherwise you risk diminishing your own credibility as an H&S rep, turning H&S into elf and safety and damaging support for preventing death and injury in the workplace

gazza7788

im not trade union appointed rep,but i am a member of a trade union

theoretica

If you want the radio off introducing the need for PRS and PPL licences might be effective.

hcb42

I would suspect the correct way to deal with this is to question whether radio is appropriate in the workplace, and not try and find an H&S excuse as it were, as it is unlikely to be damaging hearing, but very likely to be inappropriate in a customer area for sure.

There is no given right to have a radio on at work anyway. I am very accommodating in my sales office at work, but radio is a huge no no.

dacouch

Are you Gareth from The Office?

ILW

The term "jobsworth" does come to mind.

Have you been given a special hi viz vest and a cap yet?

paddedjohn

do you need a broadcasting licence to have the radio on in the workplace?

dickydonkin

ILW wrote: »

The term "jobsworth" does come to mind.

Have you been given a special hi viz vest and a cap yet?

You are not Littlejohn from the Daily Mail by any chance? - and why a cap????

I had this situation some time ago within a warehouse environment where the radio was played excessively loud.

Compromise is the answer here.

Speaking from the Hi - Viz jacket and clipboard (no cap), the reality is that if the radio is played in excess of the legal threshold in the workplace, then whether that threshold is exceeded by a machine, compressor or indeed a radio, then as long as workers are exposed to it, there is a potential breach of legislation.

When machinery is too loud, controls should be implemented to reduce the noise levels - with machinery, that is not too easy - with a radio, there is already a control measure in place - the volume dial!

How loud is too loud?

Copying and pasting first and second action values, daily and weekly exposure levels at 'A weighted' frequencies - which even if you understand the terminology, is meaningless if you dont have a sound level meter or a doseometer to measure prolonged exposure.

As a very basic guide, if people have to shout to be heard when standing less than two metres away - then you are at risk of irreparable damage to your ears.

I would not condone removing the radio - however, other factors need to be considered - particularly if fork trucks are evident - which someone has already mentioned, but agreeing to a reasonable volume seems a sensible solution. Removing the radio will alienate the OP and possibly lose trust with his colleagues - which is not a good facet for a safety rep.

I just wonder if those who complain about 'elf n safety' killjoys taking the radio away are the very same people who would be straight down to the no win no fee lawyer to claim for noise induced hearing loss ten years down the line for having to work with noisy machinery......or in the vicinity of loud radios - citing that the company Health & Safety Advisor at the time did nothing to protect their well being!

hcb42 wrote: »

and not try and find an H&S excuse as it were, as it is unlikely to be damaging hearing,

Health & Safety is not an excuse when there is a real risk of noise induced hearing loss which there may be in this case. Excessive noise will damage hearing - irrespective of the source.

Yorkie1

paddedjohn wrote: »

do you need a broadcasting licence to have the radio on in the workplace?

Yes, you do.

I see OP has now edited their original post, making the rest of the thread meaningless. That really annoys me.