Acoustic Shock

When you think of hazardous careers, firefighters, police
officers, and coal miners doubtless top the list. Rarely
would call center representative enter your mind. But in
recent years studies in the UK and Australia are analyzing
a syndrome affecting a significant number of call center
operators.

Acoustic shock syndrome is defined as any temporary or
permanent disturbance of the functioning of the ear or of
the nervous system, which may be caused to the user of a
telephone earphone by a sudden sharp rise in the acoustic
pressure produced by it. The exact source of shock
incidents is still unknown, but most likely they are
signals occurring within the telephone network, such as
alarm signals, signalling tones, or feedback oscillation.
The noises are described as sudden and intense shrieks,
howls, spikes, screeches, and squawks. While the same
signals occur in the hand-held telephones used at home,
they can have a traumatic effect on call center operators
who typically wear head-sets that take longer to remove,
thus exposing them to longer duration. Add to this, the
volume of the head-sets worn by call center operators,
which is usually turned up due to competing call center
noise. This may account for victims' describing the
incidents as like being hit over the head, or like being
stabbed in the ear.

The studies have shown that as many as 10% of call center
employees have experienced an incident, leading to at least
one missed day of work. Severe discomfort and pain may be
felt during the exposure, and many other symptoms follow.
Within the first thirty minutes of the incident, operators
complain of nausea or exhibit symptoms typical of shock.
Lingering symptoms, which can last a few days or even
months, are headaches, nausea, tension, hypersensitivity to
loud sounds, depression, and anxiety. In a few extreme
cases, victims experience difficulty in balancing and
hearing loss. Stress appears to exacerbate the symptoms,
and it is likely that on-going symptoms are after-effects
of muscles and ligaments being tensed to an unusual degree.
This may explain why exposure to more than one incident
developed more severe symptoms that lasted longer. Besides
a higher stress level, operators who smoked, or had prior
neck and shoulder pain seemed to suffer worse from symptoms.

Fortunately, employers are listening to the buzz about
acoustic shock and reacting with concern. Most call centers
now use sophisticated head set amplifiers with sound
shields that block the transmission of high-pitched
frequencies. Call center design has also been affected, to
reduce ambient noise and thus enable the operator to reduce
amplifier volume. These steps dramatically reduce, if not
eliminate, the risk of traumatic acoustic shock incidents.
However, victims who have already experienced an incident
should be encouraged to seek counselling, and supervisors
should be sensitive to their suffering. Confidence may take
time to build, but with the proper support, operators can
and do return to their former work status.


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Rob Daniels comments on Call Centers at Call Center Depot
http://www.call-center-depot.com and
http://www.call-center-tools.com