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Music in the Shop

5/18/18       
cabmaker

I would like to take a poll about music in the shop. Our policy on this has evolved over the years.

A million years ago we used to listen to the Dick Estel Reader on NPR. This was a program where Mr. Estel would come on the radio each day around 2pm and read a chapter from a book. That always seemed to be a kind of quiet time in the shop.

We tried to listen to talk radio but found that people would tend to pause turning on the table saw until the speaker finished a thought. We stopped allowing talk radio for that reason.

From there we allowed music as long as it came from cassette tape or CD. Anybody is allowed to turn the music down or turn it off for any reason they want.

Today the radio & CD player has been replaced with ear buds. Each person has the ability to customize whatever they are listening to to whatever they want to listen to.

What do you guys think about this policy?
What are the pros & cons?

5/18/18       #2: Music in the Shop ...
TomO Member

Cabmaker, this has been discussed before, do a search here, "headphones", you will find a lot of opinions

5/18/18       #3: Music in the Shop ...
cabmaker

Thanks Tom. Those are some good responses. Hadn't occurred to me to do the search.

Sometimes these posts, even though they have been covered before, are worth re-visiting. New people come to the forum all the time who might benefit from or maybe contribute to the discussion.

I am going to print out the responses from that search you pointed me to as well as any new ones then disseminate them to the crew. I think they would benefit from reading the input.

5/18/18       #4: Music in the Shop ...
Paul Downs

We let everyone choose their own music and listen through earbuds. Doesn't seem to be a problem for my crew.

5/18/18       #5: Music in the Shop ...
Charles Member

For those who do not have or want to take the time to research old forum discussions...

Without rehashing this to death (lots of opinions available via search), I am still of the opinion of NO EARPHONES in the shop.

NO EARPHONES during delivery and installation.

When I had to get the attention of someone to prevent an accident at the table saw a few years back, it was obvious that any device that stood in the way of safety was a major issue. They simply did not, nor could not, hear me.

Fortunately, no one was injured. Not that time. Since then earphones, earbuds, etc. are simply not allowed.

5/18/18       #6: Music in the Shop ...
David R Sochar Member

I am migrating to full time hearing aids to deal with my hearing loss. Yes, the work contributed to it, especially when I was in my first wood shop (1973) and no one wore any sort of protection. The Northfield 20" pattern makers jointers knives would get jointed on the fly, as well as the Powermatic planer, and the noise was incredible. My ears would ring all night, and eventually never stop.

But my hearing loss started when I was 15 and developed a taste for loud rock. Very loud. Not too smart.

I have been very good about hearing protection since 1990, but now age has contributed its' share. Hence the aids.

Hearing aids won't work with buds, which is what my co-worker wears, or his DeWalt muffs with streaming. I still have the old two channel stereo with some decent speakers, being fed by one of several iPods or NPR. This will fill the shop nicely with the music I like when working alone, or sitting on the porch making cutlists or detail sketches. But I also have grown to like it silent.

5/18/18       #7: Music in the Shop ...
Alan F. Member

summary of OSHA

OSHA Rules - Earphones

5/18/18       #8: Music in the Shop ...
cabmaker

Here is an interesting experiment for Paul because I know he tests applicants for basic math skills and he has a fair number of workers on the shop floor.

Put together a list of 10 arithmetic problems. Maybe add some fractions together and divide by integers. Nothing too complex. Just simple cabinet related math.

Give two similar lists to each guy in the shop and have them solve the math problem with earbuds & without earbuds.

Am curious about how the results compare in terms of accuracy and/or required time to complete.

If you want to add a little drama repeat this experiment. Tie a $10 bill to the outcome. If they can answer all questions accurately within the average time of their first attempts they get the $10.

You could spice it up. If they improve their output by 10% you'll give them $15.

To find out whether or not you should allow earbuds let them be in charge of whether or not they wear the earbuds when it's their money that's in play.

5/18/18       #9: Music in the Shop ...
cabmaker

As long as we are being all BF Skinner about this try another experiment.

Give them $10 at the beginning of the experiment. It's their money. It's in their fist.
Subtract $1 for every minute it takes to complete the test. Again offer them the choice of earbuds vs no earbuds.

This will test two ideas. 1) How important are the earbuds when it's their money and
2) which is a more powerful motivator, making money or losing money.

5/18/18       #10: Music in the Shop ...
TonyF

B.F. Skinner? Really?

Why not conduct a "Hawthorne Experiment" by varying the genres of audio, the volume, the clarity or distortion of the sound, the times of day it is played, etc., and see what the net effect is?

This is sounding like control freak thinking. If your employees are capable of listening to their individual tastes in audio, through their own devices, and as long as they can do so safely and maintain productivity, why not let it go?

Clearly you have time on your hands, which could be put to more productive use.

TonyF

5/18/18       #11: Music in the Shop ...
JSO

The best employees are ones that are happy to come to work, let them decide what they want. Their own phones with ear buds is the way to go I would think.
As far as safety goes, if you have to yell at someone so they don't hurt themselves at a machine, my advice would be get rid of them, you can't stand there all day and babysit everyone.

5/18/18       #12: Music in the Shop ...
cabmaker

Tony,

Clearly you have no throttle.
Can you not recognize self-deprecating tongue in cheek humor by the BF Skinner reference?

Let me ask some questions:

At your shop is it every (wo)man for themselves when it comes time to deciding whether or not they should wear safety glasses?

Is this all about free will & determinism for you or do you have a company policy that addresses this?

JSO, do you even have any employees?
If I were to fire every employee that had a lack of situational awareness I'd be building this stuff all by myself.

If you take the time to read the archive about this topic the dominate viewpoint is that earbuds are not a good idea from a safety perspective. Are these guys just control freaks too?

Try that math test yourself and report back with the results. Empiricism might (or might not) change your opinion.

5/19/18       #13: Music in the Shop ...
Harold Pomeroy

Listening to soul killing music all day can not improve attitude. Deciding what to play on a loud shop music system will invite factions and conflict along pre-existing cultural lines, that are better left at home.

For example, I supervised a conservative christian. The local left leaning independent FM station was literally devil music to him. He ended up working alone, at night, so that he could listen to christian broadcasting talk and music without being insulted by co-workers.

Ear buds would have improved the situation by making everyone happier.

As an experiment in productivity, have someone chose music you hate, and play it loudly in your office. For years on end.

Harold Pomeroy

5/19/18       #14: Music in the Shop ...
TonyF

Cabmaker:

I have never heard B.F. Skinner referred to in a “self-deprecating, tongue-in-cheek manner”; usually the reference is by someone who truly believes in Skinner’s behavior modification theories, puts that belief forth, and after taking the social temperature of the room, says “Just kidding!”

I have recently retired, after working for myself for 17 years. Prior to that, when I worked on a bench for others, I would listen to recorded books while I worked. If something required my undivided attention, I would turn it off until that process was complete. But for the other 98 percent of the time, I could function safely and productively while listening to my books. I found this to be preferable to listening to shop banter about deer, beer, and the presumed promiscuity of the office secretary.

I managed to keep all my body parts intact during the 44 years that I worked as a cabinetmaker, and had no part in the damage of the body parts of other cabinetmakers. I would attribute this mostly to dumb luck, but nonetheless my audio choices did not play a detrimental role in that outcome.

I understand how your workmen’s comp underwriter may not like that your employees have ear buds, but I also imagine that if your underwriter were to view your operation for one day, they would see plenty of other things that they do not like. (this refers to any cabinet shop, not just yours)

As for company policy, you have to decide what works for you and your staff. Perhaps more shops should hire adults, who understand that the objective is to produce quality work safely and efficiently, so that we can all get paid and live to tell about it. I think responsible individuals will generally err on the side of self preservation when it comes to safety practices. Occasional lapses of responsibility will occur even under the best of circumstances, and when that happens hopefully dumb luck will save the day, because people will still get hurt using guards, safety glasses, and push sticks, no matter what is playing on the radio. It is why you have workmen’s comp insurance.

Once reasonable safety practices give way to entrepreneurial "cover your ass" paranoia, then you will have the woodworking equivalent of the “Caution – contents hot!” label on the coffee cup.

TonyF

5/19/18       #15: Music in the Shop ...
cabmaker

You got to admit Tony, this is a tough room to play. You don't really need to take the temperature to know that most of the responses here are generally unequivocal to just about anything.

You are right that the fact you made it for 44 years without injury involves a certain amount of luck. I have had people with 25 years experience manage to get their fingers in the jointer. At 50 years of age I would guess you could call them an adult.
I couldn't get him to wear safety glasses and I couldn't get him to take his earbuds out.

Is there a correlation here? I don't know.
Am I control freak for insisting on safety glasses? I don't think so.

5/19/18       #16: Music in the Shop ...
Paul Downs

I choose my battles. Controlling the music is one I've decided to forgo. It's easier to win the ones I want to fight - the workers take my orders seriously because I don't overload them with rules for the sake of rules. As for the math test, I'm not sure what would happen. And I don't much care. Nobody has ever insisted on wearing earbuds while they took the test, although I don't forbid it.

5/20/18       #17: Music in the Shop ...
Alan F. Member

OSHA has rules for hearing protection, one of the rules is you can't wear hearing protection over ear buds.

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/noisehearingconservation/index.html

5/20/18       #18: Music in the Shop ...
cabmaker

The purpose of headphones is to dampen vibrations before they get into your inner ear. Earbuds inside headphones bombard your inner ear with vibrations.

Hearing loss is gradual and it's effects are cumulative. You have no intrinsic ability to discern or measure hearing loss as it occurs. You just gradually have a harder and harder time hearing hearing different sounds around you. Eventually every conversation is like bad cell phone reception.

Quietness is not the only symptom. There is a strong correlation between hearing loss and early-onset dementia. The effects are similar to CTE injuries in football players. Your brain goes into to overload and uses all it's RAM as it struggles to assemble sounds into words.

"High-frequency hearing loss occurs when the sensory hearing cells in your cochlea die or are damaged. These hair cells are responsible for translating the sounds your ears collect into electrical impulses, which your brain eventually interprets as recognizable sound."

So the moral of this story is if you played football coming up through school and you run a CNC machine you might as well turn it up to 11 and enjoy the music while you can.

Effects of Hearing Loss from AARP

5/21/18       #19: Music in the Shop ...
Ryan

The ones in the shop that listen to music with earbuds wear these. https://isotunesaudio.com
They are OHSA approved for blocking loud noise but also allow bluetooth music. The ones who did not wear ear plugs before love these and have noticed their hearing improve after a month or so of wearing them. We provide normal ear plugs and over the ear muffs but if they want these they buy them theirselves. I have bought a couple pair and given them as a bonus to ones who deserved and bonus and that I knew wanted them. I have seen buying them things they want as a bonus works good because if you give extra money it normally ends up going into the monthly budget and they don't get stuff that they want.

5/21/18       #20: Music in the Shop ...
cabmaker

Ryan,

Those earbud manufacturers certainly have a well done website. It's one of the best I have ever seen. It still leaves some questions unanswered.

I can understand how OSHA approves noise canceling ear protection. What I can't figure out is how introducing a different kind of noise directly into your inner ear does not also mess with your long term hearing.

Air has mass. If you have ever stood next to a base speaker when the volume was fairly high you can actually feel the air pulsating. One of the things that air does to protect our ears is provide a cushion to soften those vibrations. If you have no cushion here the vibrations are going to make it all the way into your inner ear.

As the OSHA article Alan points out your inner ear converts noises into electronic signals that your brain interprets. If you mess this wiring up you may become more than deaf. There may, however, be tertiary benefits. For example, a nice thing about dementia is that you get to meet new people every day.

I don't expect this diatribe to change anybody's mind. People hear what they want to hear. Some of us will just be able to hear a little better later on.

5/21/18       #21: Music in the Shop ...
Ryan

These are made so that volume is limited below safe levels. This is copped from their website.

"ISOtunes® is fully committed to protecting your hearing.

More than 25 million Americans suffer from Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), many of whom have been exposed to excessive noise at work or during leisure activities. We do NOT want to add to that number, so we've taken steps to make sure we won't.

ISOtunes® signature Volume Limiting Technology ensures that our products won't damage your hearing, even when used at maximum volume for the full battery life duration.

ISOtunes® is committed to protecting your hearing. With our earphone products, we do our part to not only protect your ears from loud outside noises, but to allow you to appreciate the sounds of the world around you for years to come. "

5/21/18       #22: Music in the Shop ...
David R Sochar Member

Ryan - "...who did not wear ear plugs before love these and have noticed their hearing improve after a month...."

That is a telling sentence that makes me wonder. It cannot be true. You may be stroked.

A hearing loss will never improve. They may stop further loss (the obvious goal), but the cilia and nerves in the inner ear will never come back.

The old guys I worked with in the 70's all claimed their hearing was better than the average person's because of their exposure to the noise. None of them even knew hearing protection existed. Of course, they were nearly as deaf as a stone, but they were damn good lip readers. Their level of awareness of the situation was alarmingly low.

I think the buds are OK, but my coworker now wears a pair of DeWalt earmuffs with corded music from his phone. Noise limitations are built in. Things get too loud with shop noise and the electronic feed is shut down. I think muffs will stop the shop noise better (rated NRR 25). You can get Bluetooth for another $30-$35 if you like.

5/21/18       #23: Music in the Shop ...
Ryan

I guess I worded that wrong the ones who didn't wear ear plugs before were mored used to the noise, now they say if they don't have their ear plugs in everything seems way louder than they remember it before.

5/21/18       #24: Music in the Shop ...
cabmaker

Ryan,

I think what we have here are subjective responses to something to that is hard to measure but nonetheless prevalent.

A simpler way to put this might be that you are willing to ignore the risk because you would rather listen to the music.

This is similar to what we see in PeeWee football. The science tells us that these contact sports scramble people's brains and that the effects are cumulative. The dialog generally morphs out from there to how life ought to be.

You can convince yourself of anything. If you want to believe pushing noise into your inner ear is perfectly safe then you will even believe that those:

"...who did not wear ear plugs before love these and have noticed their hearing improve after a month...."

Like I said, it is a great looking website.

5/21/18       #25: Music in the Shop ...
Jso

Cabmaker,
Lots of guys use rhe Bose noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones, some guys use the cheaper head phones with the fm/am radio, they offer ear protection at the same time.

You say you have an employee who you can’t get to where safety glasses or take out his earbuds? If this is true you have way bigger issues than this forum can provide answers to. That person would be looking for a new job after a verbal and written order. Your comment about having no employees left if you didn’t babysit them, well to be honest that just plain scares the crap out of me. Now days with workers comp inspection, safety mtgs, safety training and wcb rates you can not afford to have to many accidents. Companies go for years with no lost days.
It sounds like in your shop you need every machine to be made by saw stop.

5/23/18       #26: Music in the Shop ...
Scott

Please tell me what I am missing here? Reading this post was time well wasted. The OP asked a question about music, great question for a shop, a lot of good answers. Next, the OP goes on and on, baffles us with BS and answers his own question. Why bother asking, out!

5/23/18       #27: Music in the Shop ...
cabmaker

Scott,

Did you learn anything about how hearing loss is related to dementia?

Most of the people on this forum are now familiar with the relationship between CTE injuries and professional football players. I would guess not many of them know that these same CTE injuries are linked to hearing loss.

Do you not think a discussion about hearing loss is somehow germane to people who work around loud machinery?

5/26/18       #28: Music in the Shop ...
Pat Gilbert

My policy is that you can listen to music at work as long it is mariachi music.

Er ah oh that's right that is the policy of every construction site in Calif anyway.

6/6/18       #29: Music in the Shop ...
David Waldmann Member

Website: vermonthardwoods.com

Music cannot be played loud enough in our shop to hear it.

In our quieter areas we do allow music, but it must be played at a level that does not interfere with normal communication (it is my judgement what "normal" is).

It has not been an issue, but I would not allow ear buds under muff protectors, and would not allow the BT type speaker/ear muff things either. It's hard enough getting someone's attention when equipment is operating in the best of conditions (IMO, foam ear plugs, 30+ NRR).

I suppose it should go without saying, but the above is all in reference to paid working hours. Break/lunch time they can do what they want.

6/6/18       #30: Music in the Shop ...
Mark B Member

In my small shop I am always concerned enough that my guys have full focus on their tools and operations. Them fumbling around with phones in their pockets, switching up their pandora playlist, sneaking a peek at the facbook or snapchat that just blooped through their ear phones, getting a little "jiggy with it" when a song comes on and they are ripping a piece of 8/4 hard maple on the saw.... I am too worried about finding fingers on the floor.

No music, and no headphones. While your at work, your at work. There are times when we are doing a lot of sanding or other type of work that we will turn a radio on for a while but even then I quickly see the glazed over effect.

Wish it wasnt the case, but work time is work time, a different crew could likely outperform us with music and videos playing. Not the case here.

6/6/18       #31: Music in the Shop ...
David R Sochar  Member

I have thought about this subject for years, and honestly can be persuaded by any position above.

But I think there is an underlying operative at work. Just as some look at drug abuse as a medical problem and others look at it as a legal/moral problem, music while you work can viewed in the same framework.

Heck, music has enough of a bad rap as it is, as we learned in "Footloose!" Here in the Bible Belt, there are those that see tapping toes as immoral activity.

I think this cultural fog may have floated into the discussion, and some think that listening to music equals pleasure, and "...gol' durn it, you jest ain't supposed to be enjoyin' the work! I do not pay you to enjoy yourself!"

I think the work/focus/safety thing and the no enjoyment thing are mixed in our unconscious view (just as in the drug addiction analogy). I know that is where I can be persuaded. I prefer safe, silent, focused workers. But I also like smiling workers that may do a few 'steps' on their way across the shop, or some licks on the air guitar.

6/7/18       #32: Music in the Shop ...
Mark B Member

David,
Your post is "music to my ears" lol. And I am sitting here typing this response with a crazy playlist in my ears.

I do fear though when I walk out into the shop that the distraction will result in problems. Even for myself. A great song comes on and the dynamic changes. When it changes at the right time its a ton of fun.

I need to get over my worry that if that dynamic changes when the saw is running its a bad thing.

Covering the overhead, and the comp, can make us all curmudgeons.

6/8/18       #33: Music in the Shop ...
chipbored

Without reading all the responses here is my opinion.

Cutting to the chase. I have always got the best work out of the guys and girls who put the radio on and just leave it alone.

Number one issue is safety!! How many times I've had guys walking around with headphones on in in their own world. You yell out about 5 times waving your arms just to get their attention, it affects the output and quality of work aswell. Also you generally have them up loud when in the workshop, over prolonged periods doing irrepearable damage to your ears.

Beyond safety, It kills a team environment. You will never be able to please everyone with the radio station that is chosen. It's a great exercise in negotiations and diplomacy for the team to work out what to listen to, how long should that station be on for ect.

Every now and then we put on an album that everyone is into, maybe on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend or when we have to knock one out in a hurry. Again, good for the team.

I just find the headphones dangerous and anti-social.


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