Health and Other Risks

EarAngel is a Digital Noise Limiter designed to eliminate the risk of damage to hearing from both accidentally and maliciously generated noises at potentially dangerous levels reaching an Operator's ears. EarAngel will prevent sounds above 85dB reaching the ear without degrading the quality of the voice content and with no echo effect.

Earangel has been designed as a result of urgent requests from the Emergency Services for a product that would protect their Operators from the risks associated with receiving freak levels of sound via their telephone lines. Such sounds can be caused accidentally by momentary glitches within telephone systems and networks, DTMF tones, inadvertent activation of noisy mechanical devices, distressed screams, alarms, sirens etc. Maliciously generated sounds reported include; whistles, personal alarms, screams, fireworks, various noisy devices etc.

What can be the effects on Operators of experiencing a loud noise directly into the ear via their headset or Acoustic Shock, as it is known?

Reported effects range from; no obvious short-term signs of damage, short and medium-term symptoms such as general distress, ringing in the ears, dizziness, nausea, hearing degradation, tinnitus and stress, to severe long-term hearing and health deterioration.

What can be the effects on Organisations that operate and those that manage Call Centres and Control Rooms?

Apart from the obvious concern for the welfare of valued Staff, the services of these valuable Operators can be lost either temporarily or even permanently. Substantial compensation claims have been met and continue to be made. The morale and confidence of other Staff can be affected, having witnessed an Acoustic Shock incident, possibly leading to a drop in performance levels, an increase in stress levels and an increase in Staff turnover. Employers' Liability Insurance premiums can suffer.

As the number of Acoustic Shock incidents steadily grows and they receive more publicity, people are becoming more aware of the dangers. This is both a good and a bad thing. Employers and Employees need to be aware of the real dangers, but suspicions have been aroused about the authenticity of some claims of damage to hearing.

It is well accepted that, when diagnosing hearing injuries, it is extremely difficult to ascertain the level of hearing loss and the gravity of other symptoms. Greater reliance has to be placed on the patient's word when trying to establish the gravity and, indeed, the very existence of claimed symptoms. Leaving aside the question of whether the injury is real, it is just as, if not more, difficult to ascertain when and where it occurred. Many of us live in a very noisy world outside of our working environment. The effects of hearing damage can be very gradual and therefore go unnoticed for many years, perhaps not becoming apparent until the onset of natural hearing loss in later life.

How can EarAngel help in this confused area?

EarAngel will prevent any sound above 85dB reaching the ear of an Operator via the telephone line, thereby eliminating the risk of Acoustic Shock and assuring compliance with current and forthcoming legislation. EarAngel has a Noise Event History Recording Facility providing data for Statistical and Evidential purposes. By creating a log of the occurrence of every High Level Noise Event and by the fact that EarAngel will have prevented these sounds reaching the ears of Operators, it will be proved that they are being protected. This log will also highlight any unusual frequency or pattern of Noise Incidents, prompting any appropriate remedial action.