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Monday 12 May 2008 By Professor
Chris Gale It used to be said that marriage is the only thing that gives people the pleasure of company and perfect solitude at the same time. In the modern workplace, though, the MP3 player can do much the same. Eight million were sold in Britain last year, many to employees wanting to "tune out" their wider working environment. By wearing the MP3's highly visible headphones, they send a pretty clear signal to colleagues that they do not want to be disturbed. According to a survey by workplace-interior specialist Woods Bagot, up to 22 per cent of UK office staff use MP3s to create personal space at some time during the working day. Removing external distractions in this way can help them to focus on important projects or key reports. But it can harm teamwork and co-operation - especially when "leaking" sound disturbs colleagues who prefer to work quietly. The Royal National Institute for Deaf People claims that two-thirds of young people who regularly use MP3s face premature hearing loss because they set the volume too high. If the usage takes place at work, the employer could be accused of failing to protect their health and safety. Other threats could arise if the company uses loudspeakers to warn employees of dangers or broadcast other crucial information. There are other problems, too. A 20-gigabyte MP3 player can hold more than 750,000 three-page word-processing files. An employee with a grudge could easily download sensitive information and walk out with it in a pocket. Some organisations now ban MP3s entirely. Others are trying to manage the various threats. As a minimum, employees should be told not to connect non-company devices to
office computers or peripherals. They must have a supervisor's permission to
use their MP3s in working time - and agree to keep the volume down.
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