Fears over call centre noise risk

The union said workers were affected by "white noise"

A union has expressed concern about the safety of call centre workers in Aberdeen after complaints about bursts of noise in their headsets.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said 45 out of 160 operators suffered "acoustic shocks" over two days.

The shocks were sudden piercing noises in their headsets and the union said there had been fears of side-effects.

Centre operator BT said it investigated the incidents and ran checks to ensure worker safety.

Union officials have been highlighting what they regard as serious problems for workers affected by bursts of "white noise".

They said managers should have closed the Aberdeen centre as soon as the shocks were detected on 20 and 21 October.

We get incidents of noise interference from time to time BT Scotland spokesman

A BT Scotland spokesman said: "None has been reported since then. We get incidents of noise interference from time to time.

"We carried out a full investigation because it's important to protect our employees' health.

"Within our call centre environment there have on occasions been incidents of noise interference, defined as unexpected and sometimes unexplained sounds, termed sometimes as acoustic shock."

The spokesman said that in the "vast majority of cases" there were minor or temporary side-effects.

'Growing risk'

He added: "To protect our people's health, all noise interference incidents have to be reported and managed in a way which minimises risks to individuals and to the business."

The CWU has arranged a conference in England to discuss the problem of "acoustic shocks", which have been described as the "industrial injury of the 21st century".

Union officials said some workers have suffered from depression, headaches and other health problems following the bursts of noise.

CWU spokesman Dave Joyce said: "The roots of the union's campaign go back over 15 years when the first cases came to light.

"The size of the industry has more than doubled since then with a growing risk affecting a million workers in call centres today."