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24/10/05 - ACOUSTIC SAFETY MEDIA BRIEFING
Health and Safety Minister to speak
The media are invited to a briefing at the start of the Acoustic Safety Programme Conference on Monday, November 7, at the National Physical Laboratory, Hampton Road, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 0LW. The media briefing will be led by Dr Mike Goldsmith , Head of Acoustics, NPL, and also present will be conference speakers:

Lord Hunt, Minister for Health and Safety.
Dr Richard Barham , Principal Research Scientist NPL (leading the research into the 'National Definitions of Psychological and Physiological Acoustic Shock').
Dr Andrew N Graham-Cumming , Consultant Occupational Physician specialising in Acoustic Shock Injury.
Keith Broughton , Former HM Principal Inspector Noise and Vibrations HSE,
specialising in Acoustic Shock Occurances and Best Practice.
Dave Joyce , Senior Health Safety & Environment Officer CWU.

Starting at 9.00am, the briefing will also include a photo-opportunity with the Minister and interview opportunities with the key speakers.

Acoustic safety is an important issue for the call centre industry, which employs 1.4 million people in the UK, 3% of the total workforce. Acoustic shock, or noise interference, is one of the major problems, caused by repeated exposure to sharply rising noises in close proximity to the ear, usually through headphones without adequate protection. Symptoms include tinnitus, ear pain, dizziness and nausea, impaired hearing, and anxiety.

With hundreds of legal cases pending, and a ‘class action’ imminent in the Republic of Ireland, it is an issue which needs to be addressed.

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