Workplace Hearing Tests for Contact Centres and Customer Services
Clear communication starts with healthy hearing.
Employees in call centres typically spend long hours wearing headsets, leading to potential listening fatigue. This can affect the blood flow to the inner ear – also known as the cochlea - which can in time have a detrimental effect on hearing.
Communication within call centres and customer service teams is key to successful employee engagement, and customer experience too. However, it’s not often that hearing health is mentioned when it comes to making sure our communication is as clear as possible. Agents’ hearing can steadily change over time, especially with people working longer and retiring later, but can potentially deteriorate faster with the regular use of headsets.
Workplace hearing tests help contact centres to proactively check agents’ hearing and allow for early detection of hearing changes. This in turn can allow for timely intervention such as hearing aids or workplace adjustments to ensure employees feel supported when at work. Education around our hearing health is needed for everyone at work. The sooner we can adopt healthy hearing habits such as regular breaks from using headsets, the sooner we can protect our future hearing.
FAQs
Why do call centre employees need employee hearing tests?
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Prolonged headset use can contribute to hearing fatigue and cause hearing loss over time. The constant low level noise is beginning to be recognised as a detrimental impact on agent’s hearing. However, unless noise levels go above 85dB, hearing does not need to be reviewed under health and safety. Workplace Ear Care want call centres to realise the importance of hearing health, especially when communication is a key part of an agent’s job role.
Regular hearing tests at work help to monitor staff’s hearing levels and helps to protect individual’s hearing health
How do hearing tests improve employee performance?
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Employee hearing tests play a big role in reducing miscommunication and improving employee retention. Regular hearing tests allow for employees to make adjustments for any change in hearing whether that be with hearing aids or equipment which in turn improves communication, allows employees to feel supported and are more likely to stay, and overall improves customer satisfaction.