OCCUPATIONAL VOICE LOSS

Work hoarse
This winter there will be no seasonal cheer from some workers - their voices won't be up to it. Predictions of particularly harsh weather - and with it low humidity, dry, heated rooms, colds and infections - could usher in a silent blight. Occupational voice loss could affect record numbers of UK workers. A new Hazards report includes checklists on recognising and tackling the causes of this emerging workplace ill-health epidemic. Read the special online report, November 2004
Work Hoarse, Hazards 88 October-December 2004 [pdf]

TUC Worksmart guide to occupational voice loss

Voice Care Network

NUT health and safety briefing: Voice care pdf / word

Dangerous Talk Overwork your voice - shouting over the racket of a noisy class or taking call after call after call on the switchboard - and that might be the last you hear of it.
Hazards 56 (Autumn 1996)

Occupational voice loss is now an official workplace disease.

The UK government has recognised occupational voice loss as an injury qualifying for industrial injuries benefit in teachers and other workers who have to speak up to earn a living.

When Anne Long lost her voice again, she assumed it was just one more bout of laryngitis, a problem she had suffered throughout her career as a primary school teacher. This time it was different. Doctors warned her she risked becoming permanently mute if she continued constantly raising her voice over the cacophony of an over-sized class.

After six months off work to allow her voice to recuperate, she returned to teaching, taking small groups of pupils instead. But by her own admission she couldn't have carried on for long; the strain on her voice was too great, and she was having to take frequent five minute breaks to let her voice rest. It was only her promotion to Headteacher that enabled her to avoid early retirement.

Though she managed to save her career, the damage to her voice is permanent; it will never regain its former strength and character.

Voice loss is becoming an increasingly common reason among teachers for teachers to retire early on health grounds.

This year a DSS medical appeals tribunal awarded Midlands NUT member Mrs Clowry eight years backdated industrial injury benefit. She took early retirement in 1988 after developing nodules on her vocal chords.The reason she developed the nodules, she believes, was class size - having to raise her voice to be heard over the noise of a class of 44 pupils.

Teaching is recognised by the British Voice Association as a profession at serious risk from laryngitis, loss of voice and throat nodules. Recent research by Roz Comins, voice care project director at the association, found that 34 per cent of patients receiving treatment from voice clinics were teachers.

Comins is lobbying for courses on voice care at all teacher training institutions. "The voice is as important for teachers as it is for actors and singers, but 90 per cent of teachers who come to us have had no help whatsoever in looking after the prime tool of their profession, their voice."

Other professions have experienced problems. Jacqui O'Neill, health and safety officer for the Banking, Insurance and Finance Union (BIFU - now Unifi ) told Hazards: "BIFU is becoming increasingly concerned at the problems of voice strain and voice loss which is affecting many of our members, particularly in the (telephone) call centres."

BIFU is pursuing a common law industrial injury claim on behalf of one member whose voice packed up. A bank cashier, the woman has worked for several years in a very busy branch in a very busy street. She had to shout to make herself heard over the background noise, a problem made worse because there was a thick security screen - with no amplification - between herself and the customers. This led to her developing hyperkinetic dysphonia, a permanent injury to the voice caused by shouting. She has been on long term sick leave ever since, and her future employment with the bank is uncertain.

The union reports a high incidence of throat infections and voice strain among its members working in telephone banking. They work under "power dialling" systems, which means there are no gaps between the calls they take and they have no control over the number of calls they receive.

Staff are monitored by management, who listen-in to the conversations. Many workers say the feel under pressure to continue taking calls when they have sore throats because of their fears about job security. Typically, the turnover rate for staff in these "call centres" is over 20 per cent due to "telephone burn-out," where the stress of constant performance monitoring is compounded by voice strain and sore throats.

But it is not just talking too much or too loudly that leads to a lost voice. A road worker exposed to bituminous chemicals lost his voice for over a year, and now could lose his voice box and even his life after developing cancer of the larynx.

And a man exposed to fumes and who is now suffering from chronic throat inflammation, difficulty swallowing and voice loss is currently pursuing a common law compensation. His problems started months ago when he inhaled exhaust fumes while standing at the trade counter of a local builder's merchants.

Banking union BIFU is pushing for a preventive approach using risk assessment and the DSE regulations to insist on regular breaks. The union is encouraging workers to immediately report symptoms of voice strain, if possible recording them in the accident book. Negotiating guidelines are being drawn up so that the union can start to get agreements in place.

Voiceloss news

Britain: Teaching can jeopardise voice and health
The majority of teachers are suffering voice loss and other work-related ill-health, surveys by teaching union ATL have found. Overall 60 per cent of teachers surveyed had experienced voice problems, with 68 per cent of teachers working in maintained schools experiencing voice problems compared to 57 per cent in independent schools.
ATL news releases on voice loss and health and stress • Hazards voice loss webpages • Risks 349
Hazards news, 29 March 2008

Britain: Scottish teacher gets voice loss payout
Scotland's schools and colleges spent more than £250,000 on compensation payments to teachers last year, figures from the union EIS have revealed. A physical education teacher who lost their voice due to “environmental/acoustic” conditions was awarded £8,000.
EIS news release • BBC News Online • Risks 338
Hazards news,12 January 2008

Britain: Scientific hush mars voice loss investigation
An investigation into the risks of occupational voice loss has been hampered by a lack of good quality studies. The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), the independent body which advises the government on which conditions should be added to the list of prescribed diseases for which state industrial injuries benefits are payable, reached the conclusion in a March paper.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006

Britain: Teaching union issues voice loss warning
Teaching union NASUWT is warning education employers to work closely with union safety reps to remedy the 'archaic working conditions' that are causing voice loss and other health problems.
Risks 220, 20 August 2005

Britain: Voice loss threat to call centre workers
Many thousands of workers are talking their way out of a job, as voice loss threatens the livelihood of one in 50 call centre workers, according to the union UNISON. UNISON delegates agreed six key demands to cut the risk of voice loss, including regular rest breaks.
Risks 212, 25 June 2005

Britain: EIS speaks up for teaching staff who can't
Scottish teaching union EIS is warning that voice strain and voice loss can be a serious problem for teachers and lecturers.
Risks 190, 15 January 2005

Britain: Work is making us hoarse says TUC
With a big chill and the season for coughs and colds fast approaching, a new report from the TUC-backed Hazards magazine is warning that the combination of germs, dry, centrally-heated offices and jobs that place a strain on employees' vocal chords, could prove disastrous for the millions of UK workers who rely on their voices to do their jobs.
Risks 183, 20 November 2004 Additional links: TUC news release • BBC News Online • Western Mail

Voices loss hits call centre workers

Call centre workers are suffering from a new industrial disease: repetitive voice injury.

According to the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, increasing numbers of call-centre workers are being referred to speech therapists because they are losing their voices. Long hours and little opportunity for even a drink of water are to blame.

“It's a growing problem,” said Paul Carding, a professor of voice pathology and national adviser to the college. “There is increasing evidence of people taking time off because if they can't use their voice they can't work. At its most severe these people can't hold down a job. They have pushed their voice to the absolute limit. In some cases, voices really struggle to recover.”

Teachers remain the most common professional group to require speech therapy, but call centre workers have now become the fastest growing “at risk” sector. The call centre industry denies that “call centre-it is” is a real problem, saying other jobs can also lead to the condition.

Both teaching and call centre unions have issued guidance to their members. A member of teaching union NUT was awarded industrial injuries benefit in 1996 after developing nodules on her vocal chords that forced her to give up her job. In 2001, banking union Unifi issued guidance to its negotiators on the problem.

Risks, 4 September 2004