If Quasimodo had lived in the 21st century, his employers would have been obliged to provide him with serious hearing protection, or upset the citizenry of Paris by heavily muffling the peals of Notre Dame. What their obligations would be under the disability discrimination legislation is the subject of a whole separate chapter…………….

It may be that campanology is on the fringes of the music and entertainment business but April 6th 2008 sees important changes to noise at work legislation for that whole area of business. In short, the Noise at Work Regulations 2005 which came into force for most of industry in 2006 will now be extended to include the music and entertainment sector, within which many of Canford’s customers are included.

The fundamental change is that previous action levels have been reduced by 5 decibels and for those who want more background and technical detail we recommend a visit to the Health and Safety Executive’s excellent web section on Noise. Further industry specific advice is being prepared and is expected to be published by July 2008.

Canford offer a number of products which help in controlling exposure of employees to noise, one of the best known of which is its range of level limited headphones. As a consequence of the changes introduced by the legislation, clients will want to know if their existing product needs upgrading. As is often the case, there is no simple single answer and Canford will be placing an FAQ on the issues on its website. Whilst that is in preparation, customers are, as ever, encouraged to call or e-mail our ever helpful FREE technical support team for advice.

In addition, Canford’s range of ear plugs and defenders has been extended in the new 2008 version of the Source – The Canford Catalogue and some of these are featured here. We’re not suggesting that you’ll begin to look like Quasimodo if you don’t buy – but why take the risk?