Ambient sounds
Cities and Memory is offering a digital album of ambient sounds for download, and you can “pay what you like.” Want to hear the sound of waves–or the jungle–in the background at work? Click the second link and enjoy!
It’s Monday. Feeling a little edgy at work? How about some relaxing white noise?
Ten hours of a Arctic icebreaker working it’s way through a frozen ocean. You’re welcome!
Link via Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
The CDC issues report on noise-induced hearing loss
and the facts are frightening. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control’s (CDC) current issue of Vital Signs focuses on the dangers of noise on hearing health. Among other things, the report states that:
- 40 million Americans aged 20-69 years old have noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Hearing loss is the third most common chronic health condition in the US, and almost twice as many people report hearing loss as report diabetes or cancer.
- 1 in 2 American adults with hearing damage from noise did not get it exposure to noise at work. Noise outside of work can be as damaging as workplace noise.
- Too much loud noise, whatever the source, causes permanent hearing loss.
- 1 in 4 Americans who report excellent hearing have hearing damage. You can have hearing loss without knowing it.
- The louder the sound, and the longer you are exposed to it, the more likely it will damage your hearing permanently.
- Continual exposure to noise can cause stress, anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, heart disease, and many other health problems.
This fascinating if distressing report comes with easy to understand graphs and charts that clearly explain the dangers of noise exposure, who is most at risk, the high cost of hearing loss, how hearing loss occurs, and, most importantly, what can be done to prevent NIHL. Because, in the end, one point is crystal clear: noise-induced hearing loss is 100% preventable.
February 8, 2017 Health and Noise, Hidden Hearing Loss, Noise-induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) 0 Read more >
We want walls:
the future of office design – and the demise of open plan. God willing.
Open floor plans, particularly poorly executed plans that are intended to shove as many bodies into the smallest possible space, hurt employee morale and interfere with work. Many employees may resent a perceived loss of status as they are removed from offices and given a space for which there is little or no privacy. But open floor plans do more than hurt employees’ self-esteem. Dr Matthew Davis, a professor of the psychology of office design at Leeds University Business School, has researched “the poor hygiene and frequent distractions of open-plan offices,” with one report finding that “the loss of productivity [was] so great in an open-plan office that it outweigh[ed] the money saved by putting everyone in the same room.”
So what is business doing in response? Apparently, “organisations are now seeking flexible, modern offices with private pods where workers can hunker down without interruption, with protocols such as no talking on mobile phones, for instance, and no eating.” Or perhaps your employer will invest in a “chair with zip-up sides.”
Or CEOs could stop listening to the finance guys when making decisions about workplace design and opt for space that lets their employees do their work. Just throwing that out there.
Link via @QuietMark.
August 22, 2016 Design, Everyday noise, Hell is other people, Noise accommodations, Workplace noise 0 Read more >
Noise-free work space is now a perk.
When It Comes to Workplace Noise, Millennials Can’t Even.
Yes, as upper management tries to squeeze more and more of the worker bees into the tiniest footprint they can, it turns out that savings in the account ledger comes at a price:
Oxford Economics, an analysis firm spun out of Oxford University’s business college, reached out to more than 1,200 executives and non-senior employees across industries, including healthcare, retail, manufacturing, financial services, and the government sector. The majority of the respondents (74 percent) reported that they worked in open-plan offices. A handful had private offices, and the rest split their days between home offices, travel, co-working spaces, or a combination of the three. About half of the respondents were Millennials.
* * *
More than half of the employees complained about noise. The researchers found that Millennials were especially likely to voice concern about rising decibels, and to wear headphones to drown out the sound or leave their desks in search of quieter corners.
So what was the most important “perk” for millennials?
Across the board, uninterrupted work time trumped employees’ wish lists. [Ed: emphasis added.] None of the respondents indicated that amenities like free food were most important to them in a work environment.
Essentially, providing an environment that allows your employees to do their work is a perk. How telling is that?
June 28, 2016 Acoustics, Design, Everyday noise, Hell is other people, Noise Pollution, Quality of Life 0 Read more >
Why everyone–except the bean counters and upper management–hates open plan offices:
When All’s Not Quiet On the Office Front, Everyone Suffers.
Click the link to learn the 12 ways that workplace noise affects worker well-being and productivity. While the executive team, safely ensconced in their offices, may not care about worker well-being, productivity is another thing altogether.
For a bit of background on the use of open-floor plans and some advice on how to make them better, see Open-Plan Offices Are the Worst, Here’s how to make them slightly less terrible.
May 22, 2016 Acoustics, Design, Everyday noise, Health and Noise, Hell is other people, Noise Pollution, Peace and Quiet, Quality of Life 0 Read more >