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We had someone with migraines needing similar accommodations. She was given her own office.

hdfbdtbcdg 7y ago
Why can't everyone get their own office? Edit I would find another job in this situation. Not being in an open office is a serious improvement in work environment.
- sokoloff 7y ago
  Not everyone has realized they have migraines yet...
- jchw 7y ago
  It’s expensive and we don’t really need it. Would be nice, though.
  - hdfbdtbcdg 7y ago
    Well. Using headphones all day damages our hearing... We work better without constant distractions. We are pretty expensive to employ and then use at 50% potential.
    - danharaj 7y ago
      Get a pair of musician's earplugs. They're wonderful. You can layer them with closed back headphones to get very robust silent isolation at a reasonable price. You can also get ear pieces molded by an audiologist for some high end earbuds that will block out sound almost completely even if you're not playing any sound.
      - hdfbdtbcdg 7y ago
        I've got noise cancelling headphones. My hearing decline has now slowed. I would recommend this to anyone. But a private office would be better.
      - HarryHirsch 7y ago
        Wearing earplugs over long periods of time can give you nasty ear infections that are near-impossible to get rid of. Note: they are suggested not because of necessity, a noisy plant for example, they are suggested because of a management fad. Open offices are a choice, the noise level in a steelworking plant is not.
        danharaj 7y ago
        I am aware. Take out your earplugs when you take the 5-10 minute break you should be taking regularly throughout the day anyway because sitting and staring at a screen for long periods of time is also deleterious to your health :shrug:.
    - jchw 7y ago
      1. Does using headphones damage our hearing? I am aware that using certain kinds of open earphones are associated with hearing loss but my understanding was that this had more to do with how high the volume needs to be to drown out the noise. Proper IEMs and noise cancelling headphones should definitely not suffer from that issue. 2. 50% potential is a bold claim, but even if that were true it may still be economically wise to stick with the 50% penalty considering how expensive it would be to have a large number of employees with their own offices.
      - delinka 7y ago
        Active noise cancelling is bad. Headphones in general are not.
        wool_gather 7y ago
        No. You're going to have to expand on that. Active noise cancelling means there is less sound reaching your ears. It works by -- quite literally -- cancelling the sound waves. Insert "now you're thinking" meme image: Sound can't hurt your ears If it doesn't exist
        delinka 7y ago
        Active noise canceling adds sound pressure. It doesn’t stop outside sound, it adds an inverse sound to prevent your perception of sound.
        jchw 7y ago
        Of course it will affect air pressure, but in theory it should be literally cancelling the sound waves. All the literature I can find at a cursory glance suggests ANC headphones are better for your hearing.
        sokoloff 7y ago
        ANC isn’t perfect. ANC leaves a noticeable low level of noise from imperfect sensing, processing, and cancellation. It’s quite easy to imagine that this could be detrimental (as compared to passive noise canceling). It’s probably not as good for your hearing as an equivalent level of passive NR. When I fly long trips, I notice that my hearing is slightly impaired for a day or so. There could be a lot of confounding factors there, of course.
    - eemil 7y ago
      What you're saying is a bit misleading. Headphones do not inherently damage hearing. What's damaging, is listening to them at a high volume. This might occur if you're in a noisy environment, and use headphones with poor isolation, e.g. airpods, which need to overpower the ambient noise. You can absolutely listen to headphones all day, in a quiet environment or if they provide good isolation.
      - wool_gather 7y ago
        Right, it's not dangerous to your hearing at appropriate levels. Although as any audio engineer will tell you, having the sound source that close to your ears for a long time can be a bit psychologically tiring. It's still best to take a break every so often.

Why can't everyone get their own office? Edit I would find another job in this situation. Not being in an open office is a serious improvement in work environment.

sokoloff 7y ago
Not everyone has realized they have migraines yet...
jchw 7y ago
It’s expensive and we don’t really need it. Would be nice, though.
- hdfbdtbcdg 7y ago
  Well. Using headphones all day damages our hearing... We work better without constant distractions. We are pretty expensive to employ and then use at 50% potential.
  - danharaj 7y ago
    Get a pair of musician's earplugs. They're wonderful. You can layer them with closed back headphones to get very robust silent isolation at a reasonable price. You can also get ear pieces molded by an audiologist for some high end earbuds that will block out sound almost completely even if you're not playing any sound.
    - hdfbdtbcdg 7y ago
      I've got noise cancelling headphones. My hearing decline has now slowed. I would recommend this to anyone. But a private office would be better.
    - HarryHirsch 7y ago
      Wearing earplugs over long periods of time can give you nasty ear infections that are near-impossible to get rid of. Note: they are suggested not because of necessity, a noisy plant for example, they are suggested because of a management fad. Open offices are a choice, the noise level in a steelworking plant is not.
      - danharaj 7y ago
        I am aware. Take out your earplugs when you take the 5-10 minute break you should be taking regularly throughout the day anyway because sitting and staring at a screen for long periods of time is also deleterious to your health :shrug:.
  - jchw 7y ago
    1. Does using headphones damage our hearing? I am aware that using certain kinds of open earphones are associated with hearing loss but my understanding was that this had more to do with how high the volume needs to be to drown out the noise. Proper IEMs and noise cancelling headphones should definitely not suffer from that issue. 2. 50% potential is a bold claim, but even if that were true it may still be economically wise to stick with the 50% penalty considering how expensive it would be to have a large number of employees with their own offices.
    - delinka 7y ago
      Active noise cancelling is bad. Headphones in general are not.
      - wool_gather 7y ago
        No. You're going to have to expand on that. Active noise cancelling means there is less sound reaching your ears. It works by -- quite literally -- cancelling the sound waves. Insert "now you're thinking" meme image: Sound can't hurt your ears If it doesn't exist
        delinka 7y ago
        Active noise canceling adds sound pressure. It doesn’t stop outside sound, it adds an inverse sound to prevent your perception of sound.
        jchw 7y ago
        Of course it will affect air pressure, but in theory it should be literally cancelling the sound waves. All the literature I can find at a cursory glance suggests ANC headphones are better for your hearing.
        sokoloff 7y ago
        ANC isn’t perfect. ANC leaves a noticeable low level of noise from imperfect sensing, processing, and cancellation. It’s quite easy to imagine that this could be detrimental (as compared to passive noise canceling). It’s probably not as good for your hearing as an equivalent level of passive NR. When I fly long trips, I notice that my hearing is slightly impaired for a day or so. There could be a lot of confounding factors there, of course.
  - eemil 7y ago
    What you're saying is a bit misleading. Headphones do not inherently damage hearing. What's damaging, is listening to them at a high volume. This might occur if you're in a noisy environment, and use headphones with poor isolation, e.g. airpods, which need to overpower the ambient noise. You can absolutely listen to headphones all day, in a quiet environment or if they provide good isolation.
    - wool_gather 7y ago
      Right, it's not dangerous to your hearing at appropriate levels. Although as any audio engineer will tell you, having the sound source that close to your ears for a long time can be a bit psychologically tiring. It's still best to take a break every so often.