# OSHA and loud music **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osha-and-loud-music/672199 "2013-10-25T12:24:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osha-and-loud-music/672199/1 "2013-10-25T12:24:24Z")
I’ve worked in a factory before, and because the machinery was noisy (over 85 dB), we were required to wear hearing protection. The other day, I went into a mall (against my better judgment) with a friend of mine. One of the stores we went into was a certain, popular clothing store. This store had music playing in the background that seemed far louder than any of the machinery in the factory I worked at. None of the employees were wearing hearing protection. Wouldn’t that OSHA rule apply regardless of the source of the loud noise? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osha-and-loud-music/672199/2 "2013-10-25T12:42:27Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > Wouldn’t that OSHA rule apply regardless of the source of the loud noise? Sure. Did it looked like any employees in the store would complain? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osha-and-loud-music/672199/3 "2013-10-25T15:59:37Z")
Yeah I was in an Abercrombie once. Dark, loud, and very strong cologne smell. Not a pleasant place. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osha-and-loud-music/672199/4 "2013-10-25T17:09:13Z")
Not to mention a lot of restaurants nowadays play music so loud that you have to yell in order to be heard. I’d hate to be to be the waitstaff working in that noisy environment for hours at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osha-and-loud-music/672199/5 "2013-10-25T22:27:15Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > Wouldn’t that OSHA rule apply regardless of the source of the loud noise? Pretty sure the rule applies, but until someone complains there won’t be any enforcement. (I’d also wonder what would happen if you actually went in with a sound level meter-- it might just sound louder without actually being louder.) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osha-and-loud-music/672199/6 "2013-10-26T05:23:23Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Not to mention a lot of restaurants nowadays play music so loud that you have to yell in order to be heard. I’d hate to be to be the waitstaff working in that noisy environment for hours at a time. This often happens because of poor design: the music in the seating area is on the same system as that in the noisy kitchen area. So if the kitchen works want to hear the music, they have to turn it up high. And usually the controls are located right there in the kitchen area. A good design would have separate PA’s for the kitchen, with their own volume control. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osha-and-loud-music/672199/7 "2013-10-26T12:39:56Z")
I wouldn’t complain - I would just leave. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osha-and-loud-music/672199/8 "2013-10-27T05:39:00Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > This often happens because of poor … I have read somewhere that this is by design. In crowded restaurants, loud music gives folks at a table the real or apparent sense of privacy - so there can be 10 conversations going on - on 10 nearby tables and all of them appear to be “private”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osha-and-loud-music/672199/9 "2013-10-27T20:54:01Z")
Plus, if people can’t carry on a conversation at all, then they’ll eat quicker and leave, making room for more paying customers. ---
**Author:** ![TashaKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TashaKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TashaKitty)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osha-and-loud-music/672199/10 "2013-10-27T23:48:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Plus, if people can’t carry on a conversation at all, then they’ll eat quicker and leave, making room for more paying customers. But doesn’t that also carry the risk that prospective customers will step inside, hear the outrageously loud music, and leave right away? I know I would… If you have to shout to place your order, the music is too high. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/osha-and-loud-music/672199/11 "2013-10-28T01:47:18Z")
Yes, OSHA rules apply, but these stores employ kids who don’t know what OSHA or workplace safety is, and the employers take advantage of that. They also don’t do any OSHA training, so the kids would have to do research on their own (and care enough) to find out the noise levels are detrimental to their hearing and do something about it. Hell, I have to regularly explain what paid time off is to the young employees, and that they’re entitled to it and really can take a day off and still get paid for it. We may be a low-paying non-profit, but try to make up for it a little with more time off earned than most places. We also do OSHA training, but it’s a little more relevant with us than at a retail store.