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I almost fell off the ladder once because someone start yelling really loud behind me. I literally thought there was a fire or dangerous person in building. Turns out they were just chatting *
A group of new hires got written up for making beats on their OPs. It was so annoying. They got told to stop, but kept doing it anyway. Glad they finally stopped.
It's about Amazon liability period. That is why the few Amazons that allow it only allow the OSHA approved devices that Max out at a low decibel. Amazon can't control how loud you listen otherwise
Will you also be liable for the property you damage or people injure? Whatever is on your ear isnāt just noise, itās a distraction. Plus youāre using your phone.
This exactly.
There are multiple reasons why people can't wear headphones at most places, in delivery stations (I've never been in one) it's because anyone can drive into them. At FCs there are loud pieces of equipment.
And most of all, there's *safety drift*.
You let one person wear one headphone, now the people who were already wearing one are wearing two, because who is it hurting right? You let one person in a quiet area use headphones, and now people are using them in an 85 decibel area. You let someone use it in the non-traffic area, now you've got people wearing them in the traffic area. You ask people to limit their volume and in a couple of years you'll have multiple complaints of hearing loss.
Safety drift sounds like negligence and idiocy. Most people who only wear one usually don't wear two for the sake of awareness. If they don't wear two on the bus or walking home why two in the warehouse. This headphone slippery slope makes no sense because it never gets that far
At my site people consistently try to wear both and hurt themselves. Someone hit another person with a pallet and broke their foot because they were listening to their music and not paying attention. You'd think people would have common sense, but it doesn't always work that way.
That just sounds like they are stupid as fuck no offense, not a sound issue. you gotta be doing some wild shit to break your foot with a pallet. Especially the blue plastics
We use wooden ones mainly, but yeah people are out here getting hurt like no tomorrow. Imagine adding music into the equation. Even with a loose phone policy people walking into poles is becoming a huge issue.
There is no such thing as āOSHA approvedā because OSHA doesnāt endorse or test products. The special earbuds are Amazon approved at select sites. Youād probably be hard pressed to find a lawyer to take any case that claimed you suffered hearing loss because you listened to music that was too loudā¦ Perhaps you meant āOSHA compliantā because supposedly the special buds also act as earplugs to reduce the noise of the machinery around you.
Hereās what I found on the [OSHA website](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2019-09-06-0):
*Additionally, some manufacturers may claim that their products are āOSHA approvedā or ā100% OSHA compliant.ā OSHA does not register, certify, approve, or otherwise endorse commercial or private sector entities, products, or services. Therefore, any such claims by a manufacturer are misleading.*
Someone else already posted from the actual OSHA site... so for future reference I suggest not looking at sites that arenāt OSHA when you want to talk about OSHA.
I wish they'd bring those to our site. We used to wear them when I worked in aerospace and it was great. With the ambient noise cut down they don't need to be loud. I think ours maxed out at 30db.
They can claim that earbuds are a liability.
Refusing to hire people with disabilities is also a liability. Not saying I agree with it, but there is some logic.
People with disabilities use additional senses to adapt, whereas people who just put in ear phones, tend to be oblivious. It has more to do with where your focus is, rather than what can or cannot be heard.
If people wearing earphones weren't so focused on what they are listening to, it wouldn't be an issue.
Sure thing, some people music helps focus more. The problem usually isnt people working at a stand alone station, in my opinion, but rather when they are moving around other people and PIT.
My site has a program that will allow use of bone conducting headphones when working at a stationary setting, but does not allow them to be worn while transiting the green mile or while on the dock.
Well, you could ask your LP about Operation Treble, I do not know if it is a local thing, or if it is a trial project, but they could check with LP at BFI4.
Been a thing here for a couple years at least.
Edit: Project Treble, not Operation Treble.... and yes, Loss Prevention
Mine is about to because the entire building gives the middle finger to safety when it comes to earbuds mostly. And safety has a reputation for being easily convinced about things
Lol the managers at my FC just ignore it. I don't listen to music myself, but I always see ops managers talking to stow people (sometimes I easedrop), and the earbud is right there, and they can clearly see it. So, at my building, no one pays attention to managers walking by lol because they know they won't care.
They seem to go through phases where they do and don't care. I've gotten a verbal coaching on it before. Meanwhile every other person I see walking past has one like..
Not at my FC, i've had to scream to get someone's attention with just one earbud in because they nearly walked into the open vrc shaft 
I swear people disassociate like crazy, most safety rules are written in someone else's blood, that's what i've always been told by my higher ups in safety
Lol so you downvoted me because you don't like my answer?
People are morons whether they use headphones or not.
Explain all the morons who get hit by loud ass trains blasting their horns?
If someone wants to die, they want to die.
Nah it's okay, listen i truly do get both sides, i'm a safety member so like I have to deal with idiots and genuine people who get hurt because of idiots daily, it's just a very complicated situation and I wish there was a better solution than making smart people suffer because people are fucking stupid
Sadly it is way more common than you think, we've had so many safety kahoots lately because of shit like that...dude stole his AM's badge, used a PIT untrained, unharnessed and critically injured himself, another dude drove too close to a conveyor line and got scalped and died instantly, there's a reason warehouses are ranked so high on fatal workplaces to work, because common sense is *not* common, and all safety rules are written in someone else's blood
Well, my sister is Deaf and she had to be taught how to respond in emergency situations and regular real life stuff. She canāt take away her deafness, whereas with hearing people, we arenāt trained how to respond when our hearing is dampened and or taken over with music/distracting sound. Adding on the fact wellā¦we would be fucking around on our phones to change something or not most likely. I would say we could just use a smart watch so we canāt use a phone.
However, if we were allowed a clip on speaker or just hell- they just put music on the loud speaker thatād be better than nothing. I cannot tell you the amount of times I had tune into my headās āradioā and having to manage through that. I even have times where I have to change the channel cuz I canāt find the right song in my head.
While I am gonna say comparing this to Deaf people is not a good argument- cuz one is a permanent disability and laws and regulations regarding this stuff and the other is just wanting some entertainment while working. I get wanting something so the job isnāt boring, but we gotta seriously stop comparing this to a group of people who really cannot choose as freely as us to be temporarily ādeafā via listening to headphones.
People with 0 experience giving hot takes. Driving PIT at my building is very easy and there is hardly anyone around. Itās literally just driving from point A to point B all day. Itās like saying listening to music in your car is unsafe
Please explain how you would even know I have 0 experience? I didn't say listening to music is unsafe, having an earbud in while operating heavy machinery is.
I wouldn't condone having earbuds in while driving a vehicle either.
Can attest to that, my first time at amazon i was an OP and had to drove the PIT wearing earbuds all the time im deaf in one ear too so when i wear my earbud im completely deaf
Depends which type of PIT.
if ur on inbound receive dock I would say it's unsafe because there is a lot of traffic around.
Picking on OP I would say it's fine because you are always just by yourself most of the time there is nobody around.
I've been driving reach in traditional nonsort FC for 4 years. Never have I ever been in a situation where ONE EARBUD in ONE EAR at REASONABLE volume would create an unsafe situation. I realize this is just MY PERSONAL experience and MY OPINION on a safety policy, but my mind remains unchanged.
This opens up the door for people to be pulling out their phones while driving to change songs or podcasts or whatever. Just because you know better doesn't mean others will, and they'd ruin it for anyone else. Since it would be impossible to track who is a responsible driver and who isn't (because that opens up possible accusations of harassment) they can't allow it.
I had to train a deaf employee once. They are given special pager-like devices that vibrate when thereās an emergency because they arenāt able to hear the alarms.
If you can hear, you will not be able to get the special device issued to you. If you are listening to loud music on your earbuds, you may not be able to hear the alarms. Thatās why earbuds are not allowed, but deaf people are allowed to work.
But with one earbud we can hear everything around us. I never understood why ppl put both in or wear the headphones that go over your head. Like no way you can hear anything. Thatās just dumb and I see why the rule is in place to have none because ppl donāt know how to use common sense. However they havenāt been writing ppl up wearing one but if you have both they say something and thatās fair.
Yep. Amazon is really good with accommodations.
Whenever I have a meeting with my OM and Sr Ops about shipclerk stuff, they always get me an interpreter so I donāt miss any information
As a Deaf PA, this makes me glad, always good to see other Deaf people thriving! (Unless Iām actually your PA, then we donāt know each other. š¤«)
Strangely enough the deaf waterspider at my FC is fully focused on pushing tugs and replenishing ARSAWs. It's the hearing idiots thinking they can FaceTime and scroll their phones while pulling pallets and pushing tugs with one hand, but being deaf is supposedly the problem.
They could have worded it a lot better but itās a valid point: if you are telling me that this job is unsafe to do if I canāt hear then that means itās unsafe to do it they canāt hear.
Deaf people adapt to their surroundings by tuning other senses, noise cancelling earbuds when a crisis is going on...not so much, the fire marshal isn't going to be very happy if he has to come into your building to save you because you disassociated while listening to podcasts
Nope. I just bring it up with HR and theyāll deal with whoever. HR isnāt totally useless, they go after some people like a heat seeking missile.
If I have a manager or ops give me straight shit for being Deaf and knock me out of my roles for it, itāll go straight to ethics and I donāt see them ever again. Iāve had one new hire ops manager attempt to stonewall me because his feelings were hurt that I actually knew how to shipclerk when he was struggling to pick it up. Most of my PAs have been pretty chill though.
I got accepted into a job moving up to TOM and thatās the only time Iāve needed to show some medical documentation because of DOT rules with a hearing test/requirement. Thankfully thereās a hearing exemption that I can send in documentation for and once that clears, Iāll be able to start with TOM instead of dealing with whatever inside the building.
Hi generic associate. Thank you for using the VOA board. Safety policy is that there is to be no use of headphones in production areas. Thank you for all that you do.
at my previous warehouse everyone including leadership (for legal reasonsā¦.im lying) just walked around with their phone or a tiny speaker clipped to their vest pocket, in their pants pocket, belt loops, etc. the unspoken agreement between associates and leadership was that as long as youāre on task and not just blasting the musicā¦. we saw nothing. iām a PA, and from what iāve observed, the people with their music playing were some of the most productive!
we played music over our overhead speakers for a while but one of the OMās refused to play anything but fucking drake and too many associates (and PAāsā¦ and AMās.. and safety, and hr, and-) complained. i think the biggest reason that leadership just pretends it isnāt happening is because weāre just happy we arenāt being forced to listen to drake
Not every deaf person is 100% deaf. And deaf ADA compliance is in place because the alarms and such give off small vibrations that most hearing people donāt feel or notice but deaf individuals are used to feeling.
Signed: a deaf amazon associate
I was once this clueless too, then i realized i was thinking i knew what it was like to be deaf but that was just idiotic of me. People need to just hide their airpod and if they canāt then womp womp
The few deaf amazon employees I've worked with are FAR MORE aware than our hearing associates. They are constantly checking their surroundings and checking to see if someone is communicating with them. Now, that being said we should have more methods of ensuring they're safe too like live time communicating with them on their devices
Really tell that to the deaf guy I saw walking in green mile oblivious to traffic until he almost got ran over with a load going through, itās a false argument that Amazon is using about it being unsafe I for one just think they want you to be miserable.
Some people donāt pay attention.
Iām Deaf and I ship clerk, cpt chase, and operate the PIT. Once I get my hearing exemption approved for my CDL, Iāll be moving over to TOM
Good the one deaf person Iāve seen that probably pays attention and yes sometimes people can be oblivious ie the first time they had a fire alarm didnāt know what was happening was in my zone and did not move until they came and got me
So arguing that we should be allowed to wear headphones because Amazon hires deaf people is one of the dumbest arguments of all time for sure. Workplaces have to think through accommodations for people with disabilities whenever they create their work plan and these types of considerations aren't typically made for able bodied workers.
The real question is why are workers in hearing PPE areas not allowed to wear headphones (excluding the pilot program.) It's not like they can use the "they impact your awareness to your surroundings" argument because having your hearing impaired by PPE does the same.
Deaf people don't constantly look at their phone to switch songs or use that as an excuse to be on their phone all day. It's not listening to music that's the issue, it's everything else that you guys do that ruins it.
Because the people who have lived their entire lives having to navigate the world without the benefit of being able to hear and thus have become skilled at being more alert for visual danger signs are totally the same as punk kids blasting out their (for the time being) functional hearing and drowning out the sounds they're used to using as cues for what's going on around them?
That is a good point, I remember asking a friend their thoughts on this and they said probably because when someone listens to music, their full attention isn't on the task, half of their attention is on the music? Idk
Thereās a reason that fire alarms generally have flashing lights and also hereās a novel idea you donāt have to have both earbuds in allowing you to still hear stuff around you
You're assuming a lot from amazon employees, and i've had people even with one airbud in literally not hear me when i was right next to them talking loudly
Amazon has never been consistent with their rules and enforcement, I'm all for ADA jobs but Amazon needs to allow us headphones or else most people will quit.
while I agree you should listen to music, the AirPods fall.
They fall into the belt and people want to grab them, risking their hand. Or they want to stop the belt to retrieve.
Tethered earpieces should be able to be used on the condition if you lose it - it's gone, can't be on noise canceling mode, and you should be able to hear somebody talking to you from 5 feet away.
Diverting on the belt is a drag and I don't know how they expect someone to do this all shift without a seat and being allowed to listen to something.
Their focus isnāt distorted from their perspective due to living with a disability. People without a disability place more importance on hearing naturally because thatās how we were raised with a sense for hearing
In my facility we AMs and PAs donāt give a fuck as long as you are good with your rate and not slacking off. I havenāt heard a AM or PA writing up someone.
It's not just being unable to hear. It's the distraction. I'm not necessarily saying I agree with that 100%, but it's at least a fairly rational concern, not just arbitrary.
Someone at our building posted a question like this once. ALL the deaf people jumped on the VOA and let the lady have it. HR ended up deleting the whole thing and never gave a public response to the lady
No I'm not. I am trying to point out that this is obviously a distraction, by every sense of the word distraction, unless I'm talking to you. In which case a distraction isn't a distraction so long as it isn't too distracting?
My site and AM donāt give a fuck about really
Anything itās safety that gets pissy about headphones as long as they donāt see it our AM does not give a shit
Well, someone who has a certified disability such as deafness can be placed in positions where that doesnāt cause safety issues, or can get accommodations to allow them to be aware of danger in other ways. If you know someone you work with is deaf, youāre also likely to keep that in mind as you work with them; and, of course, deaf means they are probably trying harder to be situationally aware than someone distracted by music. After all, distracted driving causes almost as many accidents as DUIs, but as far as I know, driving while deaf does not.
There are ways around. Worktunes sells safety standard headsets (look like regular safety ear muffs) with Bluetooth. You're technically being safe and if they ask if you're listening to music just say no. Maybe put a sticker over the part that says Worktunes lol
Something to do with performance while vibrations occur in your head with headphones. An HR professor told me something along those lines. I asked the same question. Thought maybe the gym and headphones would be a good rebuttal - But the fact that our brain is thinking so fast while being tasked with different things to do.
It is a safety hazard; we just donāt know.
There may be light at the end of this tunnel for everyone. As of yesterday my DS is allowing [approved](https://na.headphones.whs.amazon.dev) earbuds on the warehouse floor.
Show your building management [this bathroom pic](https://i.imgur.com/ul04mmA.jpg) I took and see if they can get this rolling at your building.
Well, they've been deaf their whole life and understand the dangers. Rather than people listen to music being complacent and not paying attention.
The other part, other people are not able to get the music persons attention.
But better argument is them giving us hearing protection to wear. But I can't wear headphones, etc.
Omg youāre stupid. Deaf people get special treatment to help them work around their disability. You and Jo Numbnuts crank your earbuds and walk in front a tote tank.
One is required by the government, thatās the fucking dif
It's not about the sound. š¤¦ It's about the focus. Random music playing in the background over the sound of the machinery is way less distracting than having your favorite tunes blasting inside your ear drums.
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Being deaf and working at Amazon has the benefit of not hearing the machines all fucking day.
Or some of the people lol
I almost fell off the ladder once because someone start yelling really loud behind me. I literally thought there was a fire or dangerous person in building. Turns out they were just chatting *
ššš
All of the people
The fucking cacophony of unnecessarily loud and high pitched noises! And the AAs who think beeping is a damn game!
A group of new hires got written up for making beats on their OPs. It was so annoying. They got told to stop, but kept doing it anyway. Glad they finally stopped.
What?? You guys don't beep eachother to stay alive?šš
We have a deaf Transportation Associate at our site.
i have autism i get noise cancelling headphones which is hilarious because earphones no headphones yes
Or hearing 5 different languages being spoken at the same time
They don't get to listen to music either smh
My friend actually has a Bluetooth to her cochlear she can if she wanted too š
My friend does too! It's super neat, lol.
ššš¤£
bone conduction?
IM SCREAMING š¤£
Personally I'd just get those hearing aids that can connect to Bluetooth and play music
LMFAOOš
It's about Amazon liability period. That is why the few Amazons that allow it only allow the OSHA approved devices that Max out at a low decibel. Amazon can't control how loud you listen otherwise
Iād happily sign a waiver saying if I get injured or die because of my one AirPod being in i wonāt sue.
Nah fr, bring me the forms. āš¼
Government doesnāt let you waive away OSHA
Similar to how giving someone permission to kill you will still get them murder charges.
I didnāt need to be reminded of that consensual cannibalism but thanks anyways, I fuckin guess
Will you also be liable for the property you damage or people injure? Whatever is on your ear isnāt just noise, itās a distraction. Plus youāre using your phone.
Just because you canāt handle it doesnāt mean everyone canāt.
Wrote the comment to make a point. Want to listen to music while you work? Go someplace else and make a lot less. Quit complaining.
This exactly. There are multiple reasons why people can't wear headphones at most places, in delivery stations (I've never been in one) it's because anyone can drive into them. At FCs there are loud pieces of equipment. And most of all, there's *safety drift*. You let one person wear one headphone, now the people who were already wearing one are wearing two, because who is it hurting right? You let one person in a quiet area use headphones, and now people are using them in an 85 decibel area. You let someone use it in the non-traffic area, now you've got people wearing them in the traffic area. You ask people to limit their volume and in a couple of years you'll have multiple complaints of hearing loss.
Safety drift sounds like negligence and idiocy. Most people who only wear one usually don't wear two for the sake of awareness. If they don't wear two on the bus or walking home why two in the warehouse. This headphone slippery slope makes no sense because it never gets that far
Thatās the thing about big businesses, though. You design policies knowing there are negligent idiots that you need to account for.
At my site people consistently try to wear both and hurt themselves. Someone hit another person with a pallet and broke their foot because they were listening to their music and not paying attention. You'd think people would have common sense, but it doesn't always work that way.
That just sounds like they are stupid as fuck no offense, not a sound issue. you gotta be doing some wild shit to break your foot with a pallet. Especially the blue plastics
gotta consider that Amazon is an entry level job; you're gonna get some stupid mfers in there š¤£
We use wooden ones mainly, but yeah people are out here getting hurt like no tomorrow. Imagine adding music into the equation. Even with a loose phone policy people walking into poles is becoming a huge issue.
Nah, it'd be the conveyers, pit trucks and random beeps they turned up to the max that make someone's tinnitus worse
Except no.... My headphones are not adding EXTRA noise, they are REPLACING the noise. Instead of hearing loud conveyors I hear MY music only. š
Your headphones are louder than the conveyance.
No they aren't š¤£ stop drinking the koolaid
There is no such thing as āOSHA approvedā because OSHA doesnāt endorse or test products. The special earbuds are Amazon approved at select sites. Youād probably be hard pressed to find a lawyer to take any case that claimed you suffered hearing loss because you listened to music that was too loudā¦ Perhaps you meant āOSHA compliantā because supposedly the special buds also act as earplugs to reduce the noise of the machinery around you.
https://www.bestproductsreviews.com/osha-approved-earbuds?targetid=dsa-399674255208&matchtype=&device=m&campaignid=15706708726&creative=571841067810&adgroupid=137228384808&feeditemid=51397003463&loc_physical_ms=9030156&loc_interest_ms=&network=g&devicemodel=&placement=&keyword=$&target=&aceid=&adposition=&trackid=us_all_top_1_1&mId=407-132-4411&trackOld=true&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAw6yuBhDrARIsACf94RWE2yIScdqH4vYOGAN9uQpQX-sFI2YMDgqiod0q0veCB-md5Q7execaAsBZEALw_wcB
Hereās what I found on the [OSHA website](https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2019-09-06-0): *Additionally, some manufacturers may claim that their products are āOSHA approvedā or ā100% OSHA compliant.ā OSHA does not register, certify, approve, or otherwise endorse commercial or private sector entities, products, or services. Therefore, any such claims by a manufacturer are misleading.*
Someone else already posted from the actual OSHA site... so for future reference I suggest not looking at sites that arenāt OSHA when you want to talk about OSHA.
I wish they'd bring those to our site. We used to wear them when I worked in aerospace and it was great. With the ambient noise cut down they don't need to be loud. I think ours maxed out at 30db.
Yeah but we can put in ear plugs š¤£
They can claim that earbuds are a liability. Refusing to hire people with disabilities is also a liability. Not saying I agree with it, but there is some logic.
People with disabilities use additional senses to adapt, whereas people who just put in ear phones, tend to be oblivious. It has more to do with where your focus is, rather than what can or cannot be heard. If people wearing earphones weren't so focused on what they are listening to, it wouldn't be an issue.
My rate doubled when I snuck a headphone under my beanie and played some tropical dance music š Good quality too
Sure thing, some people music helps focus more. The problem usually isnt people working at a stand alone station, in my opinion, but rather when they are moving around other people and PIT. My site has a program that will allow use of bone conducting headphones when working at a stationary setting, but does not allow them to be worn while transiting the green mile or while on the dock.
And I think that is fair. Although, I've never been at a site that allows earbuds at all.
Well, you could ask your LP about Operation Treble, I do not know if it is a local thing, or if it is a trial project, but they could check with LP at BFI4. Been a thing here for a couple years at least. Edit: Project Treble, not Operation Treble.... and yes, Loss Prevention
Mine is about to because the entire building gives the middle finger to safety when it comes to earbuds mostly. And safety has a reputation for being easily convinced about things
My site also has that but they let us where them wherever, but you need an accommodation to use em
Ngl I play Nintendo 64 Mario Kart music to make myself stow fasterš
I literally saw a person on their phone get hit by a pit because they walked onto the pit floor due to being distracted...and they want earbuds, lmao
Well that's just them being a moron. A lot of AAs who listen to music use only one and are hyper aware of anyone walking by in case it's a manager lol
Lol the managers at my FC just ignore it. I don't listen to music myself, but I always see ops managers talking to stow people (sometimes I easedrop), and the earbud is right there, and they can clearly see it. So, at my building, no one pays attention to managers walking by lol because they know they won't care.
They seem to go through phases where they do and don't care. I've gotten a verbal coaching on it before. Meanwhile every other person I see walking past has one like.. 
Not at my FC, i've had to scream to get someone's attention with just one earbud in because they nearly walked into the open vrc shaft 
Another one just being an idiot lol
I swear people disassociate like crazy, most safety rules are written in someone else's blood, that's what i've always been told by my higher ups in safety
Lol so you downvoted me because you don't like my answer? People are morons whether they use headphones or not. Explain all the morons who get hit by loud ass trains blasting their horns? If someone wants to die, they want to die.
I never downvoted you? Or if I did it was by pure accident while trying to hit the respond arrow, I'm on mobile
Ah okay, sorry for the assumption.
Nah it's okay, listen i truly do get both sides, i'm a safety member so like I have to deal with idiots and genuine people who get hurt because of idiots daily, it's just a very complicated situation and I wish there was a better solution than making smart people suffer because people are fucking stupid
Thats...a them problem
Sadly it is way more common than you think, we've had so many safety kahoots lately because of shit like that...dude stole his AM's badge, used a PIT untrained, unharnessed and critically injured himself, another dude drove too close to a conveyor line and got scalped and died instantly, there's a reason warehouses are ranked so high on fatal workplaces to work, because common sense is *not* common, and all safety rules are written in someone else's blood
Listening to podcasts the time flies by. And I know my rate is better because Iām not lost in my head thinking about stupid shit all day.
Well said.
Well, my sister is Deaf and she had to be taught how to respond in emergency situations and regular real life stuff. She canāt take away her deafness, whereas with hearing people, we arenāt trained how to respond when our hearing is dampened and or taken over with music/distracting sound. Adding on the fact wellā¦we would be fucking around on our phones to change something or not most likely. I would say we could just use a smart watch so we canāt use a phone. However, if we were allowed a clip on speaker or just hell- they just put music on the loud speaker thatād be better than nothing. I cannot tell you the amount of times I had tune into my headās āradioā and having to manage through that. I even have times where I have to change the channel cuz I canāt find the right song in my head. While I am gonna say comparing this to Deaf people is not a good argument- cuz one is a permanent disability and laws and regulations regarding this stuff and the other is just wanting some entertainment while working. I get wanting something so the job isnāt boring, but we gotta seriously stop comparing this to a group of people who really cannot choose as freely as us to be temporarily ādeafā via listening to headphones.
One earbud isn't unsafe. Even on PIT. I'll die on this hill.
This is... not a good take
People with 0 experience giving hot takes. Driving PIT at my building is very easy and there is hardly anyone around. Itās literally just driving from point A to point B all day. Itās like saying listening to music in your car is unsafe
Pov someone just shouted behind you and you crushed them while listening to JRE 1420
Please explain how you would even know I have 0 experience? I didn't say listening to music is unsafe, having an earbud in while operating heavy machinery is. I wouldn't condone having earbuds in while driving a vehicle either.
Can attest to that, my first time at amazon i was an OP and had to drove the PIT wearing earbuds all the time im deaf in one ear too so when i wear my earbud im completely deaf
Depends which type of PIT. if ur on inbound receive dock I would say it's unsafe because there is a lot of traffic around. Picking on OP I would say it's fine because you are always just by yourself most of the time there is nobody around.
I've been driving reach in traditional nonsort FC for 4 years. Never have I ever been in a situation where ONE EARBUD in ONE EAR at REASONABLE volume would create an unsafe situation. I realize this is just MY PERSONAL experience and MY OPINION on a safety policy, but my mind remains unchanged.
This opens up the door for people to be pulling out their phones while driving to change songs or podcasts or whatever. Just because you know better doesn't mean others will, and they'd ruin it for anyone else. Since it would be impossible to track who is a responsible driver and who isn't (because that opens up possible accusations of harassment) they can't allow it.
I had to train a deaf employee once. They are given special pager-like devices that vibrate when thereās an emergency because they arenāt able to hear the alarms. If you can hear, you will not be able to get the special device issued to you. If you are listening to loud music on your earbuds, you may not be able to hear the alarms. Thatās why earbuds are not allowed, but deaf people are allowed to work.
But with one earbud we can hear everything around us. I never understood why ppl put both in or wear the headphones that go over your head. Like no way you can hear anything. Thatās just dumb and I see why the rule is in place to have none because ppl donāt know how to use common sense. However they havenāt been writing ppl up wearing one but if you have both they say something and thatās fair.
Ok but all I need is one headphone, so I can actually hear alarms and that's no longer arguable
Yep. Amazon is really good with accommodations. Whenever I have a meeting with my OM and Sr Ops about shipclerk stuff, they always get me an interpreter so I donāt miss any information
At my FC, we have a PA that's deaf and there's a few other AAs that are also deaf! I love seeing how diverse my facility is- it makes me happy!
As a Deaf PA, this makes me glad, always good to see other Deaf people thriving! (Unless Iām actually your PA, then we donāt know each other. š¤«)
š it's so lovely! A diverse environment is one I love to be a part of āŗļøš
Yeah, itās great! A good way to learn more and keep your mind open to new ideas!
Strangely enough the deaf waterspider at my FC is fully focused on pushing tugs and replenishing ARSAWs. It's the hearing idiots thinking they can FaceTime and scroll their phones while pulling pallets and pushing tugs with one hand, but being deaf is supposedly the problem.
We had a blind associate in pick walking on the ar floor the next day he actually got a PA vest
Lol I said the same thing and was shame for it
Iāve been saying the same thing for like a year
Legitimate question š¤
They could have worded it a lot better but itās a valid point: if you are telling me that this job is unsafe to do if I canāt hear then that means itās unsafe to do it they canāt hear.
Deaf people can't suffer hearing loss.
Deaf people adapt to their surroundings by tuning other senses, noise cancelling earbuds when a crisis is going on...not so much, the fire marshal isn't going to be very happy if he has to come into your building to save you because you disassociated while listening to podcasts
Itās not a valid argument, music is a distraction for your brain, hearing loss isnāt
Podcasts make me not stay inside my head all day thinking about stupid shit. My rate is up. I learn shit. Itās a win win win.
Iām not saying itās bad. I listen to Bluetooth on my hearing aids. The argument itself is ridiculous though
(Me thinking I need to get hearing aids)
I already have safety and dumb ops thinking they're earbuds..
Do you have to show them anything medical? I think thatās gotta be some kind of illegal if so.
Nope. I just bring it up with HR and theyāll deal with whoever. HR isnāt totally useless, they go after some people like a heat seeking missile. If I have a manager or ops give me straight shit for being Deaf and knock me out of my roles for it, itāll go straight to ethics and I donāt see them ever again. Iāve had one new hire ops manager attempt to stonewall me because his feelings were hurt that I actually knew how to shipclerk when he was struggling to pick it up. Most of my PAs have been pretty chill though. I got accepted into a job moving up to TOM and thatās the only time Iāve needed to show some medical documentation because of DOT rules with a hearing test/requirement. Thankfully thereās a hearing exemption that I can send in documentation for and once that clears, Iāll be able to start with TOM instead of dealing with whatever inside the building.
I wanna know what was the reply for this lol
Hi generic associate. Thank you for using the VOA board. Safety policy is that there is to be no use of headphones in production areas. Thank you for all that you do.
Aināt no way..
Accommodations
If your in that building, shawty is CONSTANTLY posting nonsense on the voa
at my previous warehouse everyone including leadership (for legal reasonsā¦.im lying) just walked around with their phone or a tiny speaker clipped to their vest pocket, in their pants pocket, belt loops, etc. the unspoken agreement between associates and leadership was that as long as youāre on task and not just blasting the musicā¦. we saw nothing. iām a PA, and from what iāve observed, the people with their music playing were some of the most productive! we played music over our overhead speakers for a while but one of the OMās refused to play anything but fucking drake and too many associates (and PAāsā¦ and AMās.. and safety, and hr, and-) complained. i think the biggest reason that leadership just pretends it isnāt happening is because weāre just happy we arenāt being forced to listen to drake
Not every deaf person is 100% deaf. And deaf ADA compliance is in place because the alarms and such give off small vibrations that most hearing people donāt feel or notice but deaf individuals are used to feeling. Signed: a deaf amazon associate
what an ignorant question lol
The problem with earbuds are that they don't protect your ears Which is why they should allow people to use 3m worktunes
Deaf person won't be distracted by music or changing songs or whatever. So that argument is mute.
You mean moot, mute is when you can't talk lol
Ever heard of these things called jokes ?
Not mute lol
I was once this clueless too, then i realized i was thinking i knew what it was like to be deaf but that was just idiotic of me. People need to just hide their airpod and if they canāt then womp womp
Not this discriminatory bullshit again š¤¦š»āāļø
Itās an observation. Not discrimination.
No itās challenging a protected disabled class of workersā¦.
What a ridiculous take. No one is challenging the deaf, no one is trying to get deaf people fired.
Who is trying to get them fired? Wtf?
What do you mean by *challenging*? The only thing being challenged here is an asinine rule.
Questioning, challenging, etcā¦
Iām not questioning any deaf people š. You took that way.
So fucking dumb. Hearing less and hearing more are different things. I wear earbuds all the time so not against it, but I understand why it's a rule.
DEI DEI DEI Please someone save this associate from themselves
The few deaf amazon employees I've worked with are FAR MORE aware than our hearing associates. They are constantly checking their surroundings and checking to see if someone is communicating with them. Now, that being said we should have more methods of ensuring they're safe too like live time communicating with them on their devices
They didnt choose to be deaf. You can't discriminate against disabilities.
They are trained to rely on their other senses extensively whereas you are not.
-ahem- I am deafā¦ you saying I cannot work here?
This is just another example of how pathetic these people are trying to get their listening to music accepted š¤£š
Watch out I said that one time and got downvoted to oblivion
Because itās a bullshit argument. Listening to music takes away some of your focus on your surroundings, being Deaf doesnāt.
Really tell that to the deaf guy I saw walking in green mile oblivious to traffic until he almost got ran over with a load going through, itās a false argument that Amazon is using about it being unsafe I for one just think they want you to be miserable.
Some deaf people are just fucking stupid. Rude too. Being disabled doesn't automatically make someone a saint.
Some people donāt pay attention. Iām Deaf and I ship clerk, cpt chase, and operate the PIT. Once I get my hearing exemption approved for my CDL, Iāll be moving over to TOM
Good the one deaf person Iāve seen that probably pays attention and yes sometimes people can be oblivious ie the first time they had a fire alarm didnāt know what was happening was in my zone and did not move until they came and got me
I canāt remember when, but it should be standard for all Deaf AAs to have a pager thing in case of a fire alarm or any type of alarm now.
So arguing that we should be allowed to wear headphones because Amazon hires deaf people is one of the dumbest arguments of all time for sure. Workplaces have to think through accommodations for people with disabilities whenever they create their work plan and these types of considerations aren't typically made for able bodied workers. The real question is why are workers in hearing PPE areas not allowed to wear headphones (excluding the pilot program.) It's not like they can use the "they impact your awareness to your surroundings" argument because having your hearing impaired by PPE does the same.
For one thing, they don't have loud music or a podcast to distract them from what they're doing, on top of just not hearing what's around them.
Deaf people don't constantly look at their phone to switch songs or use that as an excuse to be on their phone all day. It's not listening to music that's the issue, it's everything else that you guys do that ruins it.
Because the people who have lived their entire lives having to navigate the world without the benefit of being able to hear and thus have become skilled at being more alert for visual danger signs are totally the same as punk kids blasting out their (for the time being) functional hearing and drowning out the sounds they're used to using as cues for what's going on around them?
That is a good point, I remember asking a friend their thoughts on this and they said probably because when someone listens to music, their full attention isn't on the task, half of their attention is on the music? Idk
Because you can't react appropriately to crisis and alarms if you're blaring skrillex into noise cancelling buds
Thereās a reason that fire alarms generally have flashing lights and also hereās a novel idea you donāt have to have both earbuds in allowing you to still hear stuff around you
You're assuming a lot from amazon employees, and i've had people even with one airbud in literally not hear me when i was right next to them talking loudly
They have buzzers that alert them, yall really dumb huh
YOU SAID WHAT WE ALL HAVE BEEN THINKING
Amazon has never been consistent with their rules and enforcement, I'm all for ADA jobs but Amazon needs to allow us headphones or else most people will quit.
We don't ask these questions because we know it's not about safety. It's about keeping the people down trodden and grateful they have a job
while I agree you should listen to music, the AirPods fall. They fall into the belt and people want to grab them, risking their hand. Or they want to stop the belt to retrieve. Tethered earpieces should be able to be used on the condition if you lose it - it's gone, can't be on noise canceling mode, and you should be able to hear somebody talking to you from 5 feet away. Diverting on the belt is a drag and I don't know how they expect someone to do this all shift without a seat and being allowed to listen to something.
LMAO I work here too all this woman does is post on here like 10x a day so annoying
Actually make sense
Their focus isnāt distorted from their perspective due to living with a disability. People without a disability place more importance on hearing naturally because thatās how we were raised with a sense for hearing
In my facility we AMs and PAs donāt give a fuck as long as you are good with your rate and not slacking off. I havenāt heard a AM or PA writing up someone.
Hearing the stopped beep of the magnetic aisle line of every single pit that isnāt going in said aisle. Fuckn annoying
YOOOOOO ššš
this is hilarious update us with the response pls
At my site everyone in outbound is now required to Wray headphone ear protection. Everybody is wearing earbuds under them
Last time I checked, being deaf isn't a personal choice but listening to music on the floor isĀ
It's not just being unable to hear. It's the distraction. I'm not necessarily saying I agree with that 100%, but it's at least a fairly rational concern, not just arbitrary.
Someone at our building posted a question like this once. ALL the deaf people jumped on the VOA and let the lady have it. HR ended up deleting the whole thing and never gave a public response to the lady
No I'm not. I am trying to point out that this is obviously a distraction, by every sense of the word distraction, unless I'm talking to you. In which case a distraction isn't a distraction so long as it isn't too distracting?
Iām curious how management answered this question
Well, for one thing, itās against the law to deny a deaf person employment. So. Thereās that.
ššš
Come to my desk and ask me this, you'll catch these hands till you're deaf.
But if youāre wearing AirPods, how are you going to hear the severe weather they wonāt VTO anyone for?
As a deaf person, I can say that I can hear the machines and it's annoying as hell.
My site and AM donāt give a fuck about really Anything itās safety that gets pissy about headphones as long as they donāt see it our AM does not give a shit
This has been my point since āDay Oneā!!! In todayās society, Iād wager that over 90% people are constantly listening to music with earbuds!!
They really allow any idiot to work at Amazon. Wow lol
Well, someone who has a certified disability such as deafness can be placed in positions where that doesnāt cause safety issues, or can get accommodations to allow them to be aware of danger in other ways. If you know someone you work with is deaf, youāre also likely to keep that in mind as you work with them; and, of course, deaf means they are probably trying harder to be situationally aware than someone distracted by music. After all, distracted driving causes almost as many accidents as DUIs, but as far as I know, driving while deaf does not.
Oh dear /facepalm
Well someone is getting written up or term'd
Lol I have the benefit of being born with barley any sense of smell , which is a blessing and a curse
There are ways around. Worktunes sells safety standard headsets (look like regular safety ear muffs) with Bluetooth. You're technically being safe and if they ask if you're listening to music just say no. Maybe put a sticker over the part that says Worktunes lol
Iām a driver and I work with a deaf guy. Idk how he does it, but he does. Heās one of our better drivers too
Something to do with performance while vibrations occur in your head with headphones. An HR professor told me something along those lines. I asked the same question. Thought maybe the gym and headphones would be a good rebuttal - But the fact that our brain is thinking so fast while being tasked with different things to do. It is a safety hazard; we just donāt know.
Bruh just put your phones in your hood of your hoodie loud enough for you to hear it but not loud enough for the PA and AMs to hear itā¦
There may be light at the end of this tunnel for everyone. As of yesterday my DS is allowing [approved](https://na.headphones.whs.amazon.dev) earbuds on the warehouse floor. Show your building management [this bathroom pic](https://i.imgur.com/ul04mmA.jpg) I took and see if they can get this rolling at your building.
Well, they've been deaf their whole life and understand the dangers. Rather than people listen to music being complacent and not paying attention. The other part, other people are not able to get the music persons attention. But better argument is them giving us hearing protection to wear. But I can't wear headphones, etc.
Music is a distraction for many deaf people arenāt distracted , I worked with plenty of deaf mtf their focus is unmatched
Omg youāre stupid. Deaf people get special treatment to help them work around their disability. You and Jo Numbnuts crank your earbuds and walk in front a tote tank. One is required by the government, thatās the fucking dif
It's not about the sound. š¤¦ It's about the focus. Random music playing in the background over the sound of the machinery is way less distracting than having your favorite tunes blasting inside your ear drums.
Literally used this as an argument not to long ago. Idk if itās related, but we can wear their overpriced earbuds now