Acoustic shock is a phrase that has been around for about a decade. This condition, which affects most people who work in call centres leaving them with a permanent impairment, has become more common with the increase in telephone traffic and the growing number of call centers with dedicated operators. RALIAT AHMED writes.
With the introduction of? modern communication technology such as GSM some years ago, there has been a growth? in the number of? call centres, while the employees have been reporting an unusual cluster of symptoms following exposure to a sudden, unexpected, loud noise (acoustic shock) transmitted via the telephone line.
Acoustic shock is an injury caused to telephone headset users due to exposure to abrupt and unexpected high pitched tones (HPT),? or other noises (loud or soft) that may occur in telephone networks.
Call centre workers in the course of carrying out their duties are often exposed to hazardous incoming noises that can be injurous to their ears. The sudden high-pitched signal of an alarm sounding at the other end of the line, for example, can be more than frightening as it is capable of causing irreversible damage and pain.
Technically referred to as an acoustic burst, a sudden and unexpected variation in sound level can potentially cause long-lasting damage to the human ear. This can lead to acoustic shock, which can cause symptoms such as headaches, tinnitus, and even loss of hearing.
This is a serious problem especially for frequent headset users who are exposed to high levels of noise on a daily basis. In call centres or other telecommunication jobs, it is certain that in these situations a person will over time experience hearing problems because of excess noise.
Acoustic shock affects most call centre workers who constantly listen to callers at a loud level.This industrial disease affects call centre agents after a long term exposure to radiation from phones after receiving calls. It makes an average call centre worker permanently deaf after some years.
About 30% of the telephone staff?? who work in call centers suffer? from this condition? after a period of time due to bursts of white noise transmitted through their headsets, leaving them with terrible side effects.
The initial symptoms can include: ear-ache and nausea, headaches, jaw and neck pain, hollow feeling in the ear, fluttering noise in ear, leading to poor balance, tinnitus (ringing in the ear) and hearing loss over time.
In a situation where the inner ear membranes have been weakened by ear infections, acoustic shock can cause tearing of the inner ear membrane.
Dr. Samuel Yamida, an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist explains: “Acoustic shock is a problem that is very common in developed and some developing countries. It is usually experienced by call centre workers who most times are exposed to unexpected, loud noise levels”.
“There are several factors that could lead acoustic shock or injury as some people may prefer to call it. They are: signal breaks resulting in shriek type noises, loud bangs from phones, loud interfering alarm sounds and so on”.
According to Yamida,when this continues over a period of time, and it is not properly managed, it could lead to more serious complications.
“For people who had experienced acoustic shock, they tend to become very conscious of its reoccurrence and such anxiety can give rise to changes in behavior that can have very serious consequences because? an event that starts as an acoustic shock episode with fairly broad symptoms can, if not properly managed, develop into a full-blown mental illness”, he said.
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