People wearing ear plugs in the workplace

[PatriarchyPersonified]

I probably am being unreasonable but...

Random one this one. I work in an open plan office that probably contains about 30 people on a busy day, in an area the size of two tennis courts. (Roughly).

The only noise is normal day to day activity, low level conversations and the occasional phone call. No machinery or radios etc.

A person who has recently started working here has taken to wearing ear plugs in the office. (Think noise reducing in ear defender type things that are used by people who shoot) when asked why they said it "helps them concentrate".

Now I suppose that's fair enough but this has prompted a couple of other people to start doing the same thing, including wearing old fashioned ear defender type headsets (think 1960s headphones) that block out all external noise.

Now we have three or four (depending on the day) people who are completely cut off from everything but their screens, to the point where you have to wave a hand in front of their face if you want to offer them a tea.

It feels a bit, well, rude.

I feel sorry for the people who have to sit next to them, because they are effectively isolated from any human contact for the entire day.

I can't see it being a management issue, as I don't think they are doing anything wrong technically. But it is making some people feel uncomfortable in work.

Is this normal practice?

Btw most of them only reduce noise, not cut it out completely.

I thought I probably was a bit unreasonable.

It just changes the atmospherics of the office. Doesn't actually directly affect me, but I'm friends with a couple of people who sit at that end of the office and their days have suddenly become very quiet and slow.

Sounds like you dont have enough work to do!

Yes, can still hear the fact that people aren’t doing any work, it’s just less annoying.
And I feel far from lonely. What an odd thing to say.

I do wonder about some people’s work ethic...the guy opposite me at work watches videos on his phone. Some others just talk about the news for 20min every hour or so. Then they complain they’re too busy at work. Bonkers.

I've got earplugs on my desk to use now and again. Open office with a couple of 'screechers'. If I'm doing complicated finance and I don't want to make any mistakes then I have to put plugs in to drown them out.

I have misophonia too. Literally could not listen to tapping keyboards, clicking of mouses (mice??), squeaking chairs/desks and the like. I wear earplugs a lot of the time because I have no other option. Those sounds like like nails down a blackboard to me

I sort of get what you mean OP but it will help your disconnected colleagues get on with their work. If I didn't have my earphones in my spread sheets would be all over the shop. Plenty of time to chat over the watercooler!

Tbh my best job was audio typing as then you couldn’t talk lol

I think this is very much a matter of work culture. I have always worked in offices where this is considered fine, however a recent change of CEO has highlighted some people don’t like this and think it’s anti social, and I can see why. I still like to do it occasionally though

Surely the issue is op said more than one person are wearing old fashioned headphones where they cannot hear anything. She needs to wave rr hand in front of their face. Thats rude! And possibly dangerous. I have headphones that cut all noise as i used to live by a runway and they cancelled out the noise of jets so i think a firealarm would be no match. Also in an office how do they answer the phone? This surely is nothing to do with having autism or misophonia or any sensory problem. Normal noise ones to concentrate are fine. Ones that block all sounds are rude.

I doubt people in an office are wearing industrial headphones that a workman with a drill might need. More likely noise cancelling headphones that don’t completely cancel out all noise!

Most ear defenders don’t cut out all sound, and will still let the sound of a fire alarm through. I think it’s unlikely that all OPs colleagues are wearing the sort that can cancel out the noise of a jet engine next to a runway.

The phone thing may not be an issue depending on phone type - last office I worked in, the phones had a little red LED that lit up when they rang. So as long as the phone was in visual range you’d be aware of incoming calls.
I think the light on the phone was probably more because of the option to set the phone ringer to silent than because the manufacturers were concerned about the possibility of staff wearing earphones.

In terms of types of headphones, bit of a mixed bag but obviously not big industrial ones. The original person has in-ear ones, the other three have the type used for shooting/mowing the lawn etc so still big and quite noticeable.

As a side issue, it also looks really odd when we have visitors to the office.

The big ones dampen the noise, not eliminate it completely

In ear ones barely drown out noise unless you are listening to music at high levels. The big ones will be noise cancelling - Sony, Bose are very popular

To be clear, none of them are music headphones, they are all actual ear defenders.

Oh my mistake. Still i dont think its right. If they are needed they should be in ear discrete ones unless needed for medical reasons.

I have always done this to help me focus. A fair few of my colleagues did it too, especially if they had difficult work to concentrate on.

I'm an introvert and really dislike open plan, so it gives me some of the space I need to think and work. I am also dyslexic, and I think it helps me to stay focused on tasks which require more attention.

I think if it's coming up against the working culture of an office, the business needs to consider providing silent spaces/collaborative spaces that help people work.

If that is the case the office must be extremely noisy and they are trying to make a point.

that is the stupidity of open plan offices, and crap managers that allow jabbering.

noise reduction yes, but total blockers - annoying when you can't attract someone's attention. And of course, no loud doofy-doofy-doofy music, if you can hear it then the person using it is blowing out their hearing.

answer is, guess what, a quiet room where people can work without distraction.

Perfectly acceptable I go to work to work not socalise. It also sends out a clear signal that I don't give a fuck about your new diet or holiday.

GhostofFrankGrimes

Not at all. I thought that as well, but it is honestly very quiet, if you need to get someones attention, you can normally say their name from halfway across the office and they will hear you.

That's why its such a weird thing, especially when visitors come in.

I used to do this as I’m another one with both Sensory Processing Disorder and misophonia. All the noises are as loud as each other to me and I can’t differentiate or block out say, someone yacking on in the background or scraping out a yogurt pot from the conversation I’m having with the person next to me.

I think if someone starting scraping out a yoghurt carton next to me I’d throw something at them.

The person who sits opposite me talks incessantly, and very little of it is about work. If she can't find someone to engage with she will still just talk "to the world in general".

Even when I have told her I have a deadline that day, she sees fir to interrupt me with questions like "Where can I get a passport form?" "What station do I need to get to Reading?" "Do you like this colour nail varnish?"

Eventually my manager commented that she had spotted a few mistakes in my work. I explained what was happening and she told me to wear headphones/earplugs.