Bone Conduction Headphones
Anyone have any experience with bone conduction headphones as they relate to site safety?
We currently do not allow any in-ear or over-the-ear personal earbuds or headphones as they tend to block out and sometimes eliminate external sounds all together.
We don't want employees to be completely oblivious to their surroundings, to be fairly alert to any potentially hazardous conditions and being able to hear coworkers/supervisors. We do allow personal speakers set to a “reasonable” volume as this makes some of our more monotonous tasks more bearable.
A employee inquired about using bone conduction headphones since they apparently do not block the ear canal and external sounds can still be heard. I can't seem to find much about them (as it pertains to safe use) other than a few lines here and there. Does anyone here have any research they can point me to or have any experience in dealing with them?
Here's a link to a blurb about them for anyone (like me!) that's unfamiliar with them.
https://www.soundguys.com/bone-conduction-headphones-20580/
Comments (11)
I do not know if this has to do with the subject matter. After my wife's bit..... , I mean griping, and 5 of 6 daughters, and son-laws, I went and got tested for hearing aids (I am 68.5). During the test I had to completely remove the headphones and they put sensors around my head and neck, nothing near my ears, and put ear plugs in my ears. They then resumed the testing, to my amazement I cold sense some buzzes an beeps, not really hear them but sort of feel them. The technician said your neck and head may also sense sound waves. She said some people are remarkedly good at it! Who knew?
Amazed twice that day, Bad News I do need hearing aides. I should have made sure those ear plugs were in all the way after 50 years in manufacturing, although I never wore them till 1976 when I worked in the foundry! Goods news was I could wait on the hearing aides. My wife said it was my choice , she was just satisfied she could say, "See I was right," FOR NOW! So my days are numbered! Three adult daughters are still all over me like "stink on poop!" Never never ever wanted a girlfriend, I always figured I already had problems keeping 4 women happy (2 more if you add Mom and Mother in-law, also had a female boos or two) why in the world would I want more on the side!
I am not sexist, cannot be in this house, just the facts! :)
I wouldn't be comfortable allowing them. I have a pair and If the volume is up it is still hard to hear outside noise. I would compare it to trying to listen to a TV and a stereo at the same time
Wow I have never heard of this. But I don't think earbuds should be allowed in the production floor -lots of stuff could occur and they need to be able to hear - alarms, people yelling for emergencies, forklifts, etc.
I wear mine when biking and running. I have had them about a year and I really like them. I don’t listen to any of the music that makes the whole car vibrate. However, I have no issue cranking Tool and I can still hear cars approaching. They do help with situational awareness, but I’m not certain the production floor is appropriate.
Once upon a time in a crazy unionized environment each work station could listen to their music as long as it was not above 75 dB. These folks got very technical about this practice throughout the facility. SLM was used at 5’, in the center of the two speakers (only 2 were allowed), the speakers could not be more that 6’ off the ground, no other noise was to be made by the crew while it was being measured, and there couldn’t be any equipment in the way that could alter the measurement.
Second odd story… I bought a pair of these for a friend. He was wearing them while at the playground with his daughter. He overheard two individuals planning to “roll” him while he was listening to a podcast. When they said go he turned around and gave them his best Dirty Harry impression. LOL!! He is about 6’4 and 330. Not really someone to be rolled. Plus he always has at least two sidearms with him.
What's your risk assessment say? Don't have any research but have seen them allowed where hearing protection is not otherwise required and technicians need to make phone calls. It keeps their ears open for awareness.
Always a good practice to trial with a small group in order to gather data!
On a personal note, I use them for both running and conference calls for safety and awareness reasons respectively.
I have experience with Motorola bone phones. We used them with our 900mhz intrinsically safe radios. They worked as a receiver and a microphone for two way communication. The audio is good and you can still hear noises all around you. The microphone was clear but like broadcasting from a tunnel.
I've used Shokz bone conduction headphones while running and biking. I like them a lot.
For work use...it depends on the environment. You're certainly not going to have any trouble hearing alarms or anything like that while wearing them. For the most part you can have a conversation while wearing them. You would have to use your judgement on the risk, but in my opinion in most environments, I don't think they're going to be any more hazardous than the personal speaker you already allow.
Thanks for all the feedback! Really helps give some background for a better risk assessment. Will follow up whatever we decide to do.