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02/06 - BT UNION HEALTH & SAFETY: BT BLOCKED ATTENDANCE AT ACOUSTIC SAFETY CONFERENCE
BT staff who had registered to attend the November 2005 Acoustic Safety Programme's conference, were forced to cancel their attendance according to reports in industry magazine CCF (Call Centre Forum).

The event is supported and partly funded by the DTI and backed by the HSE and CCMA ( Call Centre Management Association).

Despite BT managers and staff being scheduled to attend,it was noted that those who did make it to the event were mostly from BT's union the CWU.

It did not go unnoticed that days prior to the event, major incidents of acoustic shock were reported in many of the company's contact centres around the country, with anything up to 250 incidents being suspected. Reporting procedures failed to cope with the out brake and the company later denied there was any major problem. However, reports of line management not following the Company's excellent reporting processes and investigation procedures for acoustic events, continue to surface.

In the CCF Magazine February '06 edition news item, David Lilly ASP Programme Director is quoted as saying: "BT applied to come two months before the conference started but pulled out for legal reasons just days before. We had a manager at one of their call centres get in touch and he said he wasn't allowed to come."

However he added,"To be fair to BT they are testing all the latest products on the markets so they are doing a lot to combat the acoustic shock problem. But they are the sort of company that should be leading the way."

Commenting on the claims of serious acoustic incidents, a spokesperson for BT denied further incidents were occurring and is quoted as saying, "Within our call centre environment there have on occasions been incidents of noise interference, sometimes termed as acoustic shock. We investigated these incidents thoroughly and none have been reported since. We also tested all our systems as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of our people."

Despite BT's absence at the Department of Trade and Industry supported event, some of the biggest call centres in the UK attended, including Orange, NTL, Norwich Union, Barclays, RBS and HSBC.

David Lilly advices that: "... there are a number of headset manufacturers that are confusing the market by saying these noise risks don't exist."

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