Ear Buds

I'm looking for opinions and and relevant safety concerns on wearing ear buds / headphones while roofing. Obviously when working alone it isn't as big a deal, but I'm having issues with employees wearing them and was wondering if there were any safety print outs I could post showing the danger/s of wearing them. Otherwise, they just think I'm being a jerk, which I don't mind being on certain things, but this one is kinda cloudy.

Thanks everyone for the info!! I printed them up to pass out so they know it's not just me.

We do not allow them. Osha has guidelines on this. I can not remember what they are. All backround noise needs to be low enough so that everyone can comfortably hear each other. If it is something out of your control, you need to put something in place to ensure safety.

A tough old bird, no way. You asked politely for them to turn it off. My guys were made aware of the no music policy when they were hired. After a couple of years of compliance and they presumed they were in with the boss, a ghetto blaster appears on the roof one day. I never said a word, just walked up and cut the cord in two with my tin snips, threw the plug in the dumpster and plugged my saw in and went to work. Point made and end of discussion as far as I was concerned. The plugless radio lived behind the truck seat for a year before it moved into the storage shop where it survived until a massive purging a few years later. No one ever claimed ownership to it. Then came the era of the cellphone..........

Back in the good old days I wouldn't even allow a radio on any job site, my contention was hey guys your getting paid to work and thats that if you want to listen to music do it on your lunch hour, I pulled up to job in progress and the ghetto blaster was blasting I politely asked them do you want to work or listen to music they shut the blaster off, Many mistakes are made on the deck when something else is crowding their brain besides roofing I was quite tough old bird but no one ever quit from not listening to their tunes lol I don't know how it is now , but I usually see roofers with ear buds or radios except when I go to my Sons projects , perhaps I taught him to be a Tyrant like me lol

I want all guys on the job to be able to hear me. If it were just two or three of us, it wouldn't be as big of a deal. When we used to run 8+ guys there was no jobsite radio allowed because the pace was so high. All people had to be alert at all times.

If I worked by myself, I'd have a set in playing some NPR, classical, blues, and maybe some heavy stuff once in a while. But I don't!

I have not ran across any printouts but would in no way allow an employee to wear ear buds while working,it is definitely not a safe practice to allow on a job site, might as well let them walk across the roof with their eyes closed, hearing is a key component in working safely, just my 2 cents MP3 players have become standard-issue items for much of today's population, but portable music players are nothing new. Workers have long used music to combat the boredom of monotonous tasks. OSHA issued a memo regarding use of music headphones back in 1987: "Use of Walkmen in noise environments in excess of Tables G-16 and D-1 is a violation. Use of Walkmen over required ear protection is a violation. Use of Walkmen in occupational noise less than Tables G-16 or D-1 is at managerial discretion unless its use causes a serious safety hazard to warrant issuance of a 5(a)(1)." Loose earbud cords could also become caught in machinery or pose an electrical hazard similar to metal jewelry. The Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health Division has d music devices a potential hazard because they "impair a worker's ability to hear surrounding sounds. This is especially true if the user is working around moving equipment or in circumstances where a worker must be able to hear warning sounds. Furthermore, because these devices compromise the user's general alertness and concentration, they may be considered a hazard at any workplace."

As with most workplace safety issues, there are many elements to consider. A clear policy governing use of MP3 players is your best bet.

Review the Injury Prevention abstract. Read a related article at ConsumerReports.org. Review the 1987 OSHA memo on music headphones. Browse Hearing PPE signs and labels at ComplianceSigns.com.