Can you hear me now?

Workers’ compensation insurance is designed to assist employees who experience an injury while on the job. For most companies, the primary concern is slips and falls, along with lifting of any heavy objects. One often overlooked, but increasingly common risk factor in the workplace, is noise. Long-term exposure to noise at certain volumes can injure our hearing — sometimes permanently. Construction, manufacturing, and airline companies are aware of this risk in their workplace, but open-concept design and an aesthetic emphasis on hard surfaces is increasing the risk in retail and restaurant work — and even office-setting jobs like call centers. This noise risk can go unnoticed because what is tolerable for 15-20 minutes can still wind up being above OSHA’s decibel guidelines for employees working 6-8 hours in that environment. Consider the noise effects of your workplace to avoid costly workers’ compensation claims. You can review OSHA’s guidance by finding OSHA standard 1910.95.