Musical dispute in the workplace: who is most correct?

[saje]

Silence and personal headphones for those who must have music at all times.

[MoonMoon]

@Alpha_Twit

I work in an industrial environment, not an office type workplace. The stated managerial reason for banning individual music systems and headphones is primarily one of safety. All staff on the production floor wear OSHA mandated hearing protection, usually foam plugs but some people like me prefer the padded muffs. In spite of the hearing protectors, we have to be able to communicate, hear alarms, dodge forklifts and be able to audibly monitor machine functions. Correct or not, management’s position is that is that headphones and earbuds compromise safety and or hearing protection across the board. No exceptions are permitted by their insurance. I attempted to use a pair of PELTOR _ LISTEN ONLY protectors that would let me plug in a music source for my personal enjoyment, no joy. Truthfully, management would prefer to ban music entirely from the floor but this is a difficult policy for them to enforce. We are having tremendous difficulty in attracting and maintaining adequate staffing levels. Relaxing the music policy is seen as a way to aid recruiting and retention. Consequently, the current (winked at) policy is to permit radios on the floor and to treat us as adults. Each area sets their own music mix and as long as the work continues SAFELY and efficiently, there’s no worries. We’re strongly encouraged to settle any issues on own own because if too much static comes up the line, management can pull all the radios for a few months as a reminder that music on the floor is a perk, not a right. They’ve done it before and they’re not far from doing it again.

The specific area in which I work, we get along pretty well and our musical tastes are similar enough that there’s no real conflict. My blues heavy, classic rock mix seems to be tolerated by most. Unfortunately, one of our regulars had to drop out on medical leave, probably not to return. (it’s a very sad situation and maybe worthy of it’s own thread.) That’s when “Bob” showed up. Bob is a veteran out here, being employed as a “floater” for 30+ years, is certified on most of the machines on the floor and moves around as directed by management according to daily production requirements. Bob is a decent enough guy, quiet, listens and communicates well, inoffensive and very competent in his job. He’s the kind of guy who follows directions well but has no interest in driving the bus himself. He’s also the kind of guy who stimulates protective instincts in some and predatory schmuckhole instincts in others, like Thursday.

Frankly, Bob would prefer the music be shut off entirely but he knows that’s not going to happen. As compromise, he suggested shutting it off on Fridays only. On Fridays, Bob does double duty as a service tech and has to occasionally respond to a tech requests from various machine operators. He has to keep an ear on the paging system to do this. I like having music playing while I work and I’m not really all that picky about what’s played. I’m pretty much Tuesday in this situation but I agree that Monday has the morale high ground. Thursday is pretty much steamrolling Bob (and the rest of us to a lesser degree) over the music being played in our area because if we cause a fuss, management will just pull the plug on the music across the entire floor and our group will get the blame.

I’m replying with quote for all the people who don’t read a thread before responding.

Industrial vs. office does change things, and explains the headphone ban. That said, I’m with Bob. I once had a coworker who listened to the adult contemporary station (“the greatest hits from the 80s, 90s, and today!” translates “the same 30 songs over and over that were already seriously overplayed in the decade in which they were popular!”) over his computer speakers (cube farm) and by the end of his time with us I was ready to go Office Space on his computer.

[cochrane]

I’m going to double down on my vote for Bob. He’s new to the department, but not new to the company and has his seniority. Personal headphones are a workplace hazard in his place of employment. Silence is essential to hearing pages so he can do his job. Silence on Fridays, it is.

[Jackmannii]

I’m going with ‘‘Music in the workplace should only be audible to the person who’s playing it’’.

[begbert2]

@Bayaker

I voted for Monday, because under the existing system that makes the most sense, but really the background music should be ditched altogether. And headphone users usually can’t hear anything else unless it’s a disruptive shout, so they’re out too.

Silence is golden.

How much you can hear through headphones really depends on the headphones. I wear a couple of small over-ear headphones that don’t have any kind of seal; they’re basically small flat discs that are held on with clip like a glasses earpiece. With these suckers on I can hear everything that goes on around me - they’re just an additional source of sound nearby that adds to the ambiance without blocking anything out, that’s too quiet for anybody else to hear.

Of course if you’re in an industrial environment that requires ear protection then something like this might not be possible, but for a desk job like mine it works fine.

And I’m one of those people in a creative job who likes having music playing at low volume while I work. If I’m not listening to music I’m listening to the air conditioning, which has all the subtlety and variation of a drill boring into my skull. So rather than that I have an iPod with eleven thousand tracks on it, all of which I have heard dozens of times; the variation keeps my brain stimulated while the familiarity avoids distraction.

[filmore]

I’m somewhat confused about music being played in an area where people have to wear ear protection. How well can you hear the music?

I would say the policy is that each person controls the radio on their day. If that means they turn it off, then that’s what happens.

What would happen if more than 5 people worked in that area?

[Tamerlane]

I’m another Bob. My own preference is for work to have the silence of a tomb unless I am taking time to very specifically listen to something( basically I don’t like stuff on in the background ). I’m the only one of this opinion where I work, but thankfully I work by myself a couple of days a week. When I overlap with others I can mostly tune out the sports radio, music and talk/call-in shows of my co-workers with a smile.

I admit the one co-worker I had years ago who had a Disney fetish and listened to some Disney station non-stop was a bit much. You can only hear “How Much is That Doggy in the Window” so many times before you become absolutely homicidal. But in truth it was only in one room, was mostly avoidable and we overlapped rarely. Plus they were fun to mock, which everybody did, so that provided some distracting entertainment ;).

Monday is the only correct answer.

[Pantastic]

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are all clearly in the wrong, and are also untrustworthy - they agreed that it was fair for a person to pick music each day, but now that someone has made a choice that they don’t like, they’re suddenly loudly arguing for changing the rules away from being fair. It’s also incredibly dumb because in the scenario laid out, Bob actually has the power to get what he wants five days a week instead of one - all he has to do is complain (or pick music that bothers people enough that they complain) and per the OP the boss will play Bob’s preference five days per week. Put simply, Bob is following the rules in a perfectly reasonable manner and compromising even though he doesn’t have to, and the non-Monday people are trying to pull the rug out from under him.

That said, this sounds like a horrible policy. I can’t imagine that having death metal screech in your ear while trying to learn a new machine does much for morale, safety, or productivity. And I can’t imagine that management is going to be too happy if they find out that someone has decided to play something actionable, like music with highly sexual lyrics - “Let me see your pussy show it to me/Show me your pussy show it to me/I wanna pet your pussy show it to me” seems like fodder for a harassment complaint. Since there’s already death metal (which isn’t really death metal without violent lyrics) listed as an example, it’s not too much of a jump for someone to break out Lords of Acid or something similar.

[Alpha_Twit]

@filmore

I’m somewhat confused about music being played in an area where people have to wear ear protection. How well can you hear the music?

If you get the right music source, one that goes up to eleven. You can hear it well enough. Seriously, you should see the equipment people are wheeling around at shift change. It’s crazy the speakers some people are dragging out to the work area every day.

This is my weapon of choice, and I would consider it barely adequate. It’s basically the biggest one I could find that fits into my locker, The fact that it’s also a charger for my tools is a bonus.