Any ideas for helping dh who works in a shop with loud heavy metal music

[Ottakee]

My dh works as a tool and die machinist.  He likes the work and is good at it.  The problem is the other guys in the shop crank the heavy metal music and he can not stand that music.

 

He can't do headphones that would totally cancel out the noise due to workplace safety and needing to hear alarms/buzzers, etc.

 

I would love to find something though that would help as this is the biggest stressor of his job.  This is a common thing in all tool and die shops so changing jobs won't really help the problem.

[Cinder]

Can he wear a combo of foam earplugs and the "mickey mouse" ear protectors? It would dampen the sound but probably not enough to block alarms.

[Joyofsixreboot]

Enjoy?

 

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[Joyofsixreboot]

I find the foam ear plugs lower the decibels but you can still hear.

 

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[zoobie]

There are special ear plugs that let you hear but cancel out some of the noise. Search concert ear buds. 

[KungFuPanda]

I wear earplugs to some music events just to deaden the noise a bit. He'll still hear it, but it won't be as loud. I'd be putting out feelers for another shop. It would be HARD to listen to music you hated ALL the time.

[Ottakee]

I wear earplugs to some music events just to deaden the noise a bit. He'll still hear it, but it won't be as loud. I'd be putting out feelers for another shop. It would be HARD to listen to music you hated ALL the time.

It is hard but so far 100% of the shops he has worked at or interviewed at have the music. We are in an area with very low wages even for skilled workers (think $10-12/he in many places) and he got a fairly decent wage now which makes finding a different job​ more difficult.

[goldberry]

DH has noise cancelling headphones but they still don't cancel out all sound.  He could still hear buzzers and things.

[Guest]

Turn it down. If the other people want the walls to shake they can do that on their own time. Up is a safety violation, if its up so high and so long people need ear protection to avoid hearing loss.

[wintermom]

Aside from the annoyance of the style of music, there is the fact that your dh could be risking hearing loss with unnecessarily loud noise on the work site. Noise cancelling headphones sound like a perfect solution. 

[katilac]

I've been meaning to look at these for my dh, who works alone but has terrible hearing problems: can't hear some sounds, others are tortuous, and near-constant ringing. 

 

It's a Kickstarter, so no history, but some of what they say about filtering certain sounds seems to make sense. They specifically list industrial use. 

[katilac]

Coming back to add that I searched "ear plugs filters" and there seems to be a variety of filtered and/or "smart" earplugs. At a quick glance, they are supposed to cut down noise while still letting you hear alarms and such. 

Edited June 10, 2017 by katilac

[katilac]

This might be a fairly simple solution. Work alarms should be considerably louder than even very loud music. You can buy a decibel meter to make sure, then just wear earplugs with the correct rating (blocks out music and not alarms). If he can currently hear the alarms over the music, then he can safely wear plugs that significantly lower the sound of the music. 

 

You got me started researching again  :coolgleamA:

[bethben]

He should be wearing some sort of ear plugs anyway. My dad was a tool and die guy and his hearing by age 50 was horrible!

 

 

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[gardenmom5]

I sympathize.  my brother used to listen to heavy metal as loud as the stereo would go - and since he took my dad's stereo to his room after my father died - it was pretty loud.  I developed tinnitus. my mother was too weak do anything,  (until the neighbors from the end of the next street over would come and complain)  one thing I came to understand - when it is that loud - you are incapable of thinking.

 

my first thought - what are the fed/state/local regulations about workplace noise?  (if you're in the US - there are some)   what are the company policies about workplace noise?  are they being violated?

has he ever spoken with his coworkers about the volume or type of music?  has he ever spoken to his manager/shop owner about the workplace noise?

perhaps some sort of compromise where they have it some days - but not others.

[Tangerine]

There are several adjustable earplugs on the market now. I recently saw one on kickstarter. They (purportedly) allow you to filter out what you don't want to hear without blocking out all sound.

[abba12]

My husband is a CNC machinist and very jealous, his workplace cranks 80s rock and top 40 pop, he'd kill for some metal.

 

Its unlikely to be amy louder than the machines themselves, especially in tool and die. So no point looking at noise regulations, its almost certainly not breaking any.

 

His best bet, other than just ignoring it and choosing not to let it be a stressor (my husband doesn't have much sympathy as he hates his workplaces music) is noise cancelling headphones, a good set which will dull the music but still allow alarms to be heard. Dh also suggests that, as a way of making music less infuriating, learnibg the words. He says it wont make you like the song but somehow its less annoying and jarring when you can sing along. Its making a choice about how to view the music, whether you let ut make you angry or let it wash over you.