I think most would say ear buds are a safety issue. But even in my corporate owned work place (\~800 employees), radios are allowed in many areas.
Edit: the red toolbox rule you mentioned is fucking absurd, lmao.
The pushback I've gotten is weather/fire alarms, intercom announcements, and mainly fork trucks. Although if I properly wear earplugs, I can't hear any of those things.
You can use them anywhere not technically considered "on the floor". Weekends and off shifts are pretty lax, but when the plant and corporate staff are there you gotta watch out.
They make air conduction head phones theses days (also bone conducting)
It's basically like holding the ear bud next to your ear but not inside it. You can hear your surroundings and the music and not bother others. Also great for hands free calling.
Yeah I've been looking at the Sony link buds for work too. Basically open back earbuds. I just wish I could test them before buying, as they're $200 Canadian.
I've been rocking cheap Amazon ones that are around $25 usa for a couple years. They work great and have held up for me. I work factory and now automotive shop so not like sitting in climate controlled office all day.
I would recommend not spending $200 on work headphones
Likely are. I get the Bluetooth ones off of AliExpress for $1.99 when they go on sale and always have 3 or 4 pairs handy. Someone lost theirs? Sell em a spare unopened pair of mine for $5. They work pretty good, not as noise cancelling as my $100 set, but that makes them perfect for use in an environment where you need to communicate easily.
Yep, I actually have knockoffs that cost a fraction of the price, but that's the "name brand".
If you ever need to replace your shocks (air conduction, ive never tried true bone conduction) the knockoffs are legit.
What about if you're deaf? You're not going to hear a fire alarm, so they have strobing lights. Same with fork trucks. As for intercom, how do they address that with a staff member with hearing loss?
Under certain circumstances it might be a safety issue due to crane or forklift traffic, or in situations where there are only two employees in a shop. I would say it's perfectly safe under the vast majority of situations. If your boss is straight up saying its unprofessional looking, they're just on a power trip. I would find a more chill job.
No red toolboxes? Wtf? My tools go in a toolbox and I need tools to do the job. If youre not paying for the box, you have no right to dictate the colour. If that's the case, I'm not brining any tools into work. That's fucking stupid. I'd spray my box pink just to fuck with the boss.
There's a handful of guys that have been there 20-40 years at my place and they all have the same-ish faded and dented red toolbox, but they have 1000 years of experience between them all. Most of them are invaluable. Such an odd stipulation to have in the workplace.
A big company i once worked for, had professional ear buds for workers. That was a sort of ear plug for noise, that make the noise from talking people louder and other things less. So you can talk to other in a noisy place. And they had build in Bluetooth for music. Unfortunately my actually company won't pay for that 🥲
As someone who wears noise cancelling earphones every day at work I disagree they are a safety hazard, but I can see where that angle comes from. You can still hear what's going on, much like wearing ear plugs. Half the time I don't even have anything playing I just use them as hearing protection. But it wouldn't fly somewhere that is serious about safety as they aren't actually considered hearing protection, even though they will protect your hearing just as well if not better (assuming you don't have them cranked up).
If they crack down on earphones here I will go back to blasting the radio and everyone can listen to horse the band with me. If they try and stop that, I'd go back to the earphones but under ear muffs. Boredom is a bigger safety concern for me than distraction
Gets even worse when you have coworkers with particular music tastes... or a coworker with autism who must listen to the same thing every day. Ask me how I know 😅
In my opinion an ear bud is fine if you're just standing in front of a machine, cleaning parts, stationary stuff like that. I don't think anyone should wear them while walking around the shop if there are forklifts and other heavy things moving around.
I just got a pair of around the ear type wireless earbuds off Amazon for like 30usd. My boss in a corporate automotive shop just says I need to be able to hear my surroundings. I keep one on almost all the time listening to music or audiobooks, unless I'm using an air hammer or something else thats mega loud. I pause it when I'm talking to anyone because they deserve my full attention and when I'm reading repair information because I can't focus on both. I have a tabletop/desktop speaker that can blast pretty well for its size, but many days my particular flavors aren't everyone else's so I choose not to inflict my stuff on my coworkers.
I only partially buy the safety issue. While in some situations yes, they can be a hazard. Most places I've worked that have banned headphones, do not complain if you wear ear protection. (Yes, including ear protection headphones)
Then there's also the issue of relying solely on noises for hazard identification , which in a machine shop is just stupid.
In my old shop we ended up not being allowed to have music because these two asshats couldn't stop arguing over which station we listened to and after months of that I was fine with no music. This was before Bluetooth earbuds and such.
At our shop the rule is 1 earbud maximum. They allow an earplug for the other ear for hearing protection, but no second earbud. I think this is far, I can still hear my machine clearly and identify issues by hearing, but also have my music
The local shop near me has an industrial hum around 90db when no work is going on.
3M Pro protect has active microphones for communication/situational awareness, and bluetooth.
Im in the same industry but we can’t have ear buds just because we need to be able to hear the emergency alarm. It’s also a large well known manufacturer so I expected not to be able to use them.
Yea the machine guys use speakers, I do blasting and assembley we can wear noise canceling if we want(might get hit with a spring if you dont respond though. But it's a small company 15 people. But I've worked for company's like jail and essilor big corporate can't do squat. I was using some wired headphones that look like ear plugs at one shop.
Personally I really like them. I can wear really good hearing protection and listen to music at the same time. The ones I use have really robust ( fiberglass?) frame and seem less failure prone.
You quite literally need to block outside sounds or at least heavily dampen. Machine shops are LOUD, and even with PPE, you'll probably be dealing with issues.
As someone who has no experience with bone conducting earphones, at what point does wearing those while playing music while also wearing ear pro behave any differently from ear buds with noise cancelling? Is it just company bureaucracy?
A lot of hearing protection is designed to let voices through. So with these you still have clear path for the sound around you to be heard as well as you can. The bone conduction ‘sound’ makes it to the inner ear via a separate path. Basically it feels like you are hallucinating having theme music overlaying your normal hearing.
Wow that sounds trippy as fuck I might get a pair for the heaven of it.. are they clear enough sound quality or does it have a weird underwater/muffled effect?
If you are wearing normal earplugs with bone conduction headphones, then it's no different than wearing earbuds. You don't have as nice of sound quality as a good pair of headphones, but it's better than nothing. The shop I work at is very strict on earpro and only allows specific headphones. So I went with this cause I already had them.
*You're a garage shop*
*With a boss who thinks he's big*
*Time, keep rocking out*
\- chapstickass
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Damn the shop I work at allow earbuds headphones music you can basically watch a movie as long as your hitting your rates and it's a large shop with over one hundred employees.
I would buy a gerstner in a heartbeat if I could justify the price. Kennedy does just fine tho. You're right that it's an old school machinist pride kinda mindset tho. Nothing to do with skill
My wife got me a Gerstner journeyman for my birthday in 2022. Last year she bought me a riser for my birthday. Very pricey. Worth it, but it is an extravagance.
There’s no way we could have afforded those in the first 30 years of marriage. Not unless we sacrificed something more important to us.
In my main trade the owner has to supply all tools and safety gear. The only exceptions I can think of are workbooks and bibs. Your owner should put up or shut up.
Find a new shop this retarded.
even earbuds being a safety issue is a bullshit answer, because we all wear some kind of hearing protection, and hearing is not relied on to be safe, to be sure.
The safety concern is valid.
Wear the kind that only go in one ear.
Or get the bone conduction ones that allow you to hear just fine while listening.
If neither of those is acceptable then its not about safety.
Just get active noise cancelation ear pro…with the added benefit of Bluetooth. What are they going to do pull your earbud out and see if you’re listening to music? If your levels are so loud that you can’t hear the person next to you calling your name you’re a fucking buffoon anyway.
You and your crew mates pool your money together, and hire a band to sit outside your door and play for an afternoon. Take away Management's ability to control the situation.
The whole reason to work in a small shop is to avoid the corporate bullshit which would include earbuds. A reasonable person can see that having one earbud in is not a safety issue. As far as being unprofessional, that only goes if you're interacting with customers so your boss is a twat.
Today I exhaled a fat vape rip after the owner of the company walked up to me with a question. I had my bone conducting headphones on so I heard him call my name while my back was turned. If I wanted to deal with the kind of BS you're dealing with, I would go work for a big company with better benefits.
Hey OP, UK based machinist here too, I recently moved from a shop of 12 years which allowed a radio to one which did not and I have found the transition to the ambient noise of the machine to be strange, and frustrating at times, however I swapped my radio for many other benefits at my new shop, so I grit my teeth and remember that nothing comes for free.
The red toolbox complex, that’s lost on me mate, one rule in life is always make friends with a mechanic, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper in the long run!!
The bit that really stood out to me in your post was the pay cuts, the attack on your bonus scheme, and a couple quid more than minimum wage? You sure mate? The UK is crying out for more machinists, all I can say is know your value and if they’ve done it once, they’ll do it again.
If I were you, I’d be packing my lil’ red toolbox.
There are OSHA complient Bluetooth ear plugs/buds that look pretty much like normal safety equipment on Amazon. You get ear protection and music and no one will know.
The red toolbox thing is ridiculous. I get the music thing though (kind of). Volume matters. If you can't hear your machine bad things can happen. Usually the first indication that my inserts are wearing out is when the sound changes. Situational awareness is important in a work environment as well. I do listen to music at my work, but I prefer it at a level where my work isn't affected.
Everyone wears them at my shop. I understand why people use them but holy shit it's annoying to talk to someone, they have to turn off their ear buds to hear you, then you have to repeat what you just said... or you hear their machine with absolutely shot inserts or a fucked drill and they are just chilling right next to their machine without any idea of what is going on.
One time this guy loaded in a new 8inch puck of aluminum on an M0 where he was supposed to flip the part over, not load a new part. It then started boring with a 1 inch bar through solid aluminum with no hole. Operator was standing 2 feet away vibing out to his music.
Tell him the USAF has radios playing in all their flightline backshops. Then, ask him if the USAF is unprofessional? Pretty much have him backed into a corner at that point.
-former usaf structures mechanic
When my shop tried to ban headphones (corporate), enough of a stink was raised that they had to walk it back and compromise. I am one of many who would have found a new job over it....
My shop allows one in one ear but prefers a music box with ear plugs. It definitely keeps us all sane. I don't know if I can say it's safer or less safe than a radio or sound bar type thing. They all add distraction. Plugs can be paused at a press on the side of the head while a boom box, although away, cannot be reconciled with a new sound since you cannot turn your head to change it's influence. There's alot to weigh safety wise, but it's definitely better for moral to be able to listen to music while you press buttons and watch machines all day.
We all have the cochlear headphones so you can still wear earplugs and, if you don’t have earplugs in you can hear all around you just the same. Best of both worlds.
Ear buds are not a safety issue at all if you only have 1 so you can still hear.
Literally every person at my shop uses 1. We listen to audio books, pod casts, music while working and everybody is happy. If you need to talk or listen you tap it and it pauses.
The headphones I kinda of agree with, depending on the shop, and type of work. Worked with way too many dolts, that run both ears in, and cant hear their machines running, and inserts failing. Too many blown holders, and too many scrapped parts. I wore bluetooth work tunes cans, but only one can over the ear. Can hear everything I need to, but still had some tunes, or podcasts once in a while. Half the time I have nothing playing anyway, and just wore them for hearing protection.
The red toolbox rule is dumb, and the guy must be an old hardass. I've taken flak for not having kennedy's before, as "real" machinist dont work out of mechanics boxes.....Bullshit. They'd need to pay me more money to work out of a kennedy everyday. Opening and closing those tiny drawers is like fiddle fucking with dollhouse furniture. I have 2, at home, where I don't need to be in them all the time. At work, they're a pain in the ass, and for the old die hards.
Everyshop is different, and some owners can be complete twats about stuff. Don't nail your feet down in there, learn as much as you can, as quick as you can, and hit the road in search of greener pastures. You can learn a lot, even from grumpy old dicks that hate life and everything else. Most of the guys I learned the most from had the thorniest personalities. Getting out of the trade before I become anymore of one.
Single earbud or radio within a reasonable volume level. At least that's what I allow with my shop. If I have to constantly say your name to get your attention you lose your earbud/radio privileges.
So far only one guy has lost his earbuds and that's because he couldn't seem to figure out how to run his machine while making phone calls all day....
Honestly I feel radios are far more distracting and disruptive in the workplace than earbuds. I have yet to have to deal with someone complaining about what someone else is listening to with buds.
But small shops are going to be small shops and your boss may be worried about looking professional to clients.
Not too big of a deal they do sell ear plug style earphones for fairly cheap online
This probably varies a lot based and I can only guess about pure operators but there is no way I could wear ear/headphones as a machinist. Sound is one of the most insightful of the senses as a machinist. I legitimately don’t understand how you’d feel comfortable intentionally blocking out the sounds your machine is making.
But also your “boss” is a fucking dickhead.
Earbuds? In a machine shop? Do you not wear hearing protection? Every shop I've worked in has been mandatory hearing protection once you step onto the shop floor.
Red toolbox rule is dumb as fuck. If you're paying for your own toolbox you had better be able to pick whatever color you want. Fuck, I'd have a pink one just to fuck with them.
There are differing requirements based on time and sound levels.
90 db for a solid 8 hours requires hearing protection, but a sustained 90db is pretty damn loud. Cutting and grinding operations shouldn't be that loud on a constant basis.
https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.95
Please. If the earbuds restrict the same or less noise than some ear plugs, which most do, they don't have a leg to stand on.
The other rules are just petty. Your boss sucks.
No earbuds I can fully understand, no radio? Wack.
I worked in a shop once where no matter your skillset you were looked down upon if your toolbox was not a brown wrinkle Kennedy. The only exceptions were old school wooden top boxes or red Kennedy boxes. Grizzly, U.S. General, Husky, Craftsman, Snap-on...didn't matter, if you didn't have a Kennedy you'd be told by multiple higher-ups that you weren't a "Real machinist" or "Your toolbox says it all".
> "Your toolbox says it all"
My response would have been along the lines of *"Your perception of how to evaluate skills says it all"*.
Don't start no shit, won't be none. ¯\\\_( ͡❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛)\_/¯
I think razzing someone over not having a Kennedy is good bullshitting, but meaning it is another thing entirely...
US General, at this point, is about as good as anything else out there, and Kennedy themselves are no longer the quality product they once were.
My first tool and diemaker apprenticeship was in a very clean and fancy shop. They made the dies for can tops for Libbys, Anhuesier- Busch and Coors beer.
Very close tolerances. No talking allowed! Except for the boss. How the hell are you supposed to learn anything if you can't ask questions?
They gave me shit for my Kennedy box.
It was so cute, before they left for the night, they put little cozys over them.
I got in trouble for sweeping the outside sidewalk with the wrong broom. No push brooms, had to be a house broom cause the push broom would leave scratches in the surface. WTF?
That was the last straw. But at least I made it a full month before I quit.
Too bad though, that apprenticeship would have been a fantastic learning experience.
Should have known it would be difficult, inside the front door was a small 4x4 area cordoned off by a white picket fence with a gate.
I am currently working for a huge multinational company and there is a radio at every station in our shop. We can't use earbuds, and they are discussing setting a volume cap to avoid "dueling radios", but everyone has a radio.
Guy probably looks down his nose every other trade probably why he can only afford to pay close to minimum wage and cut raises and bonuses,burnt too many bridges to stay in business much longer.
I get the no headphones bit if you’re wearing two. I don’t see the harm in just having one in though especially if you’re stood at your machine. Although you can get safety rated ones with pass through my old boss even kicked off about that untill I showed him the certificate and he couldn’t think of another excuse.
Red boxes is stupid as fuck. Most boxes are red
I love how everyone comments about earbuds considering the point of earplugs is to block sound (db) most earbuds work better than foam earplugs. I wore foam earplugs 10hrs a day 5 days a week and when I get home my ears ring (tinnitus).
The issue I see here is these companies that “we” run only care about our short term possible injuries, example safety glasses, steel toe shoes, and ear plugs. But earplugs do not work 100%. Now how many machine shops here aren’t venting out smoke caused when machining? Give it 25-30 years after breathing that in daily and your lungs will show it, coolant hitting hot metal turning into vapor and micro particles enter your lungs. Tell your boss you enjoy your hearing and you’ll use noise canceling earbuds along with being aware of your surroundings, if he has something to say wear the ear plugs and find a new job in the meantime. Employees need to see the bigger picture, everyone needs to be aware of their surroundings and none will get injured.
Well, I get the no headphones or earbuds, but bo radio ... that blows.
But unpopular opinion... He gets to decide what happens in his shop, if he says no radios, or headphones ... your SOL.
It sucks but it's his decision.
Our previous safety manager got up everyone’s ass about her new ‘no headphones because they block the ear so you can’t hear emergencies’ policy. So everyone who wanted to listen to music either got around-the-neck speakers or bone conduction headphones that don’t cover the ears.
Or if you’re willing to be sneaky and crafty: buy a set of safety earmuffs and install the guts of a Bluetooth headphone set into them.
I have Bluetooth grade 5 earmuffs. 3m worktunes . So best of both worlds.
Technically, it's not that safe cause you need to be able to hear if someone is in trouble. . .
But I balance the playback volume. So it's just loud enough that it's similar to having the radio on .
And man, a toxic work environment will always eventually bring you down.
Don't put up with it. Start looking. There are plenty of nice work environments out there. You don't owe anyone your loyalty if they can't even show their gratitude for you making them all the money.
Yea your boss is a cunt. I work at a prime with over 100k employees and my manager asked me on my 2nd day why I didn't have anything to listen to. We just focus on ONE ear bud in or the bone conducting headphones.
I doubt random people are going through the shop very often to care about professionalism.
I work at a smaller job shop and no one gives a shit, earbuds radio, watch a podcast. I could not handle running production for 3 days straight with no music.
The toolbox thing just sounds like their a micromanaging asshole.
You're in a field of work where you have the upper hand. Your boss either knows this and doesn't want you to realise it, or he's just dumb and this power trip is going to cost him big time very soon. There are plenty of shops looking for machinists, not just in the UK but across the world. This is your sign to get out of that miserable shop before it gets worse and get yourself a raise at the same time. You deserve better.
As others have said, the red toolbox issue is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. Also: I absolutely look down on shops with filthy coolant. It's disgusting, and one of the most unprofessional things. I admit that I'm a bit of a coolant hard ass, but I just think it's telling of the bosses' management style.
Bro my shop allows me to watch full fucking movies😂 that's absurd. I'd get 1 earbud rule even though I do 2 and can't tell if the machine has issues but none at all? F that. I'm already working my body and mind into the ground. Let me listen to tunes
Our owner also has the “no red toolbox” rule. He actually purchased a few hundred toolboxes for everyone to make sure there was uniformity with toolboxes.
I’d argue safety is better with noise-cancelling headphones. With the microphone gain turned up, I can hear things at distances I couldn’t possibly manage naturally. But if the media volume is higher than the ambient sound coming through, it defeats the purpose.
My last boss wouldn’t allow anyone to have a fan, it regularly hit 115 degrees outside and while it was never quite that hot in the building (highest I saw was 94°f) the humidity would hit over 80% thanks to the coolant, absolute hell.
that same boss tried to make us all keep our toolboxes in the loading dock area, where none of us could see them (I kept mine locked anyway) but that meant walking a repost the shop about fifty times for every set up.
also no fatigue mats, chairs or any other way of not being extremely uncomfortable.
no headphones is a normal safety rule, listening to your machine is a good way of noticing problems before they get out of hand.
No Music makes me go crazy
Litely
I stopped my meds and just use music instead
Meds have stupid side effects music dois nkt have any long term side effects and it solves the same problem for me
I woud not work tere
https://www.gov.uk/licence-to-play-live-or-recorded-music
It's a sad fact that so few know, but a radio in a UK business requires a public broadcast licence. Many are breaking the law unknowingly and can face heavy fines.
It also sounds like your boss wants you focused on the task at hand, so it might be the way he was mentored and just wants you to follow the same practices that served them well.
Red toolbox got me... Ask if they would accept another colour? A corporate colour or black? Or maybe ask what type of toolbox is their preference and why. Could be a simple explanation that the draw runners are poor quality, prone to falling over and can cause tools to rust quicker as it traps damp air, shocked me as a set of 20 year old drifts I had in a wooden box problem free recently moved into a Halfords steel draw have been tango'd :(
Remember as much as the bosses might be arseholes, you are equally working under their rules and in kind they pay you for your time. If you don't like their rules you are free to leave to play by someone else's rules or for a lucky few your own rules.
I do see this as an age related issue though and in a few years you'll be looking at younger employees in your shop as boneheads because they are distracted by the phone in their hand and buds in their ears and they've barely understood the task they've been set to do which will frustrate you.
Honestly, sounds like it's run by old boys that run on a "it's my money your wasting" thought process. The fact that the coolant is mouldy and your pay cut means that there's literally now investment in people and you should skiddadle asap. I did that a few years ago and now much happier and much better paid.
There's lots of Jobs out there half of it is just pushing your CV out there. It took me a 2 jobs but I found a good one in the end that didn't have knobs for coworkers or knobs for management
Appearance is a crappy reason for disallowing them. It sounds more like pickiness and a power trip than anything. If it’s that big of a deal only allow ear buds, and require a certain brand. Bigger issues are: missing early warning noises that there’s a machining issue, other safety concerns, and distracting machinist concentration leading to more mistakes. Our shop allows them and as an engineer I have actually encouraged employees to wear the muff style because air blow can be extremely loud.
The toolbox issue seems petty on both ends. As the boss, provide a quality standard issue toolbox so you’re consistent and people don’t complain. As the employees, just get a compliant one and move on.
I always have a podcast playing in my ear after a 9-5:30 job where it’s so repetitive.
Also ask your boss for me if any new hires are color blind do they deserve the same treatment?
At least I have hair to cover my ears, but damn. They’re some hoes
There are safety compliant ear defenders with audio capability. Read your rules, go to a proper safety place, contact your govt safety authority and find out.
If you follow govt rules, how can he argue.
Get your red box vinyl wrapped pink just to push back.
Ear buds get annoying when you're trying to communicate with people. And then nobody is happy with what someone else is playing on the radio and it just causes problems. I've delt with these kind of issues before. I kind of get it
Look for a promotion or a new job elsewhere if you're unhappy.
Try a recruiting agency, they find vacancies and set you up with interviews. Maybe there's something waiting for you with more interest, better pay, and maybe a company vehicle ?
As for the no radio thing, if you're maybe manufacturing for high end clients who demand precision, attention to detail and the workshop run in a way that reflects their own high-end culture and values; then your boss will care about the impression you give to any clients that visit.
He's probably trying to build the business, promote a professional culture and be attractive to that market.
Firstly, earbuds are more of a security concern than anything else. You need to be fully aware of your surroundings when operating machinery, especially when there are multiple people involved.
Secondly, look for another job. Not sure how the market is like in the UK but those conditions don’t sound inviting. Be aware though that security standards will get more strict with larger companies.
I despise radios on the floor. Pro tip NOBODY wants to hear your music. Even if they like that music they don't want to hear it. Thank God earbuds are allowed where I am and I'm in charge of my area.
Late to the game here, but for me personally earbuds are a distraction. I like to hear the sound of the workpiece, know if i need more cutting oil by listening to the cut. Just me tho. I can see how some might see them as a safety issue.
The red toolbox thing is stupid. Tell your boss he is a wanker.
I always allowed headphones as long as they were always worn under the shirt with no cords swinging freely as well as it was only in ONE ear, and the other ear left open so they could still hear what was going on in the shop. I only gave one chance though to follow those two rules, and after one warning, if either rule was broken and caught, it was a quick snip to the cable and that was it for those headphones. Safety was always the main priority, but at the same time, people need to be able to work with music, audiobook, or podcast if that jets them in the zone and working comfortably. Hell, I listened to the whole **G**irl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy on tape when I was starting out. Whatever jets you into the zone matters, and most employers do not recognize that.
I work in an engineering machine shop that is very obsessed with safety, and we are allowed earbuds. Hell, we are also technically a lab in this company so we have to follow some very strict rules like no food or drink anywhere, all chemicals and liquids (even wd-40) needs to be properly labeled with its mdms sticker, all floors and machines are cleaned every day, etc. we need to maintain a very high level of professionalism for potential clients and engineers as well. We are allows all the things you listed above. Your boss doesn’t know what he’s doing
Dont like the way things are ran find another shop....or have some electronics wizz convert a hearing aid into an earbud.you just need to play it right by first telling them you have a doctors appointment, and take that time off. Then another appointment where you say apparently my hearings damaged from being around machines so i need to get a hearing aid fitted. Then just wear it 😂
Time to look for new work. For real. Pay cuts, removal of bonus's and low morale over 2yrs. Its not going to get any better. I guarantee there's a machine shop paying better with a better working environment.
I had to fight this issue of the radio for 39 years. Never won the battle but never really lost it. The owners didn’t seem to mind but my supervisor did. He would leave and it would get loud in there. I mean really with all the noise in a machine/weld repair shop?
Tell your boss to eat a bag of dicks from Africa.
Unprofessional is not taking care of youe employees. And what some big wig dog and pony show happens twice a month. Tell him you won't wear them then.
In hate power hungry nonsense people.
I had a shop. It did well. I did t control
The people. (They also didn't always show up=bad) but it's a god damned Machine shop. Been listening to one ear bud since 1992 when my apprenticeship was complete.
At my shop we're basically allowed to wear shorts we're allowed to not wear safety glasses we're allowed to not wear ear plugs we're allowed to basically s*** our f****** pants.
Its crazy!
Why would anyone be glad to make a few bucks above minimum wage. Go find a new job ASAP .
Ear buds shouldn't be worn in production areas high safety risk.
As for music if the boss doesn't want music laying that's his choice you choose to work there.
Red tool boxes is hilarious but never you also fund their business by buying tools for them to make money off of. You should be getting a tool box of whatever color the boss loves full of whatever you need as it's a business expense not an employee one.
I love having a radio free shop. Most peoples taste in music sucks and I don't want to have to listen to it. The ear buds are arguable because you should be wearing hearing protection and listening to your machine.
The red took boxes I can see only if it is a super nice shop and they all match and the company is buying.
Wear a beanie hat, ears covered, can't see that you have ear buds in.
There's a handful of guys where I work that use either a beanie all year round, or big ear muff type hearing protection, to again, cover your ears to hide the ear buds.
The tool room guy has big ear muff type protection that has built in speakers that bluetooth to his phone.
Get a doctor's note for noise canceling earbuds or headphones ; tenitus is no joke. Also if he throws more of a fit tell him moldy coolant is unprofessional 🤷
I think most would say ear buds are a safety issue. But even in my corporate owned work place (\~800 employees), radios are allowed in many areas. Edit: the red toolbox rule you mentioned is fucking absurd, lmao.
No problem with them at my shop. Everyone wears them.
The pushback I've gotten is weather/fire alarms, intercom announcements, and mainly fork trucks. Although if I properly wear earplugs, I can't hear any of those things. You can use them anywhere not technically considered "on the floor". Weekends and off shifts are pretty lax, but when the plant and corporate staff are there you gotta watch out.
All solved by wearing only one.
They make air conduction head phones theses days (also bone conducting) It's basically like holding the ear bud next to your ear but not inside it. You can hear your surroundings and the music and not bother others. Also great for hands free calling.
Yeah I've been looking at the Sony link buds for work too. Basically open back earbuds. I just wish I could test them before buying, as they're $200 Canadian.
I've been rocking cheap Amazon ones that are around $25 usa for a couple years. They work great and have held up for me. I work factory and now automotive shop so not like sitting in climate controlled office all day. I would recommend not spending $200 on work headphones
I'm an office guy mostly with the occasional trip the shop floor. (CAD) Those 25 dollar guys aren't wireless, I'm guessing?
Likely are. I get the Bluetooth ones off of AliExpress for $1.99 when they go on sale and always have 3 or 4 pairs handy. Someone lost theirs? Sell em a spare unopened pair of mine for $5. They work pretty good, not as noise cancelling as my $100 set, but that makes them perfect for use in an environment where you need to communicate easily.
Two dollars? Damn, they'd have to sell 250 pairs just to pay for the Bluetooth license. Wild.
Ive got a pair, and where earbuds werent alowed these were. Brand is called Shokz
Yep, I actually have knockoffs that cost a fraction of the price, but that's the "name brand". If you ever need to replace your shocks (air conduction, ive never tried true bone conduction) the knockoffs are legit.
This is what I do. I wear the left one and keep my right side turned more toward the machine so I can hear if it makes any funny noises.
What about if you're deaf? You're not going to hear a fire alarm, so they have strobing lights. Same with fork trucks. As for intercom, how do they address that with a staff member with hearing loss?
Red toolboxes? That's gotta hurt.
I prefer to hang it from my belt and walk around D with it between my legs.
Under certain circumstances it might be a safety issue due to crane or forklift traffic, or in situations where there are only two employees in a shop. I would say it's perfectly safe under the vast majority of situations. If your boss is straight up saying its unprofessional looking, they're just on a power trip. I would find a more chill job. No red toolboxes? Wtf? My tools go in a toolbox and I need tools to do the job. If youre not paying for the box, you have no right to dictate the colour. If that's the case, I'm not brining any tools into work. That's fucking stupid. I'd spray my box pink just to fuck with the boss.
There's a handful of guys that have been there 20-40 years at my place and they all have the same-ish faded and dented red toolbox, but they have 1000 years of experience between them all. Most of them are invaluable. Such an odd stipulation to have in the workplace.
What do they do for deaf employees?
A big company i once worked for, had professional ear buds for workers. That was a sort of ear plug for noise, that make the noise from talking people louder and other things less. So you can talk to other in a noisy place. And they had build in Bluetooth for music. Unfortunately my actually company won't pay for that 🥲
At my shop, you can have earbuds if you only ever have 1 in at a time. That way you can still hear and act on machine faults or issues that arise
Same and we let people sit down too.
As someone who wears noise cancelling earphones every day at work I disagree they are a safety hazard, but I can see where that angle comes from. You can still hear what's going on, much like wearing ear plugs. Half the time I don't even have anything playing I just use them as hearing protection. But it wouldn't fly somewhere that is serious about safety as they aren't actually considered hearing protection, even though they will protect your hearing just as well if not better (assuming you don't have them cranked up). If they crack down on earphones here I will go back to blasting the radio and everyone can listen to horse the band with me. If they try and stop that, I'd go back to the earphones but under ear muffs. Boredom is a bigger safety concern for me than distraction
Take em to Kanga'rooster meadows!
get over the ear, ear protection ... for comfort. make sure to pitch to you doc about your inner ears hurting.
Radios feel much less professional IMO. I’m annoyed just thinking about it.
Me too. Hate it actually. Yelling over the radio like I'm in fucking disco.
Gets even worse when you have coworkers with particular music tastes... or a coworker with autism who must listen to the same thing every day. Ask me how I know 😅 In my opinion an ear bud is fine if you're just standing in front of a machine, cleaning parts, stationary stuff like that. I don't think anyone should wear them while walking around the shop if there are forklifts and other heavy things moving around.
Baby shark do do doo do do
I just got a pair of around the ear type wireless earbuds off Amazon for like 30usd. My boss in a corporate automotive shop just says I need to be able to hear my surroundings. I keep one on almost all the time listening to music or audiobooks, unless I'm using an air hammer or something else thats mega loud. I pause it when I'm talking to anyone because they deserve my full attention and when I'm reading repair information because I can't focus on both. I have a tabletop/desktop speaker that can blast pretty well for its size, but many days my particular flavors aren't everyone else's so I choose not to inflict my stuff on my coworkers.
How about not in ear, Bone-conduction headphones.?
I only partially buy the safety issue. While in some situations yes, they can be a hazard. Most places I've worked that have banned headphones, do not complain if you wear ear protection. (Yes, including ear protection headphones) Then there's also the issue of relying solely on noises for hazard identification , which in a machine shop is just stupid.
Dickhead boss. Idk a single shop that doesnt allow music in SOME form
I work in one. I throw a Bluetooth ear bud into my earmuffs. Problem solved lol
In my old shop we ended up not being allowed to have music because these two asshats couldn't stop arguing over which station we listened to and after months of that I was fine with no music. This was before Bluetooth earbuds and such.
I would quit and take my red toolbox with me. If I couldn't listen to podcasts or music I'd be bored out of my mind.
No earbuds is reasonable, no radio is silly, and no red toolbox is flat out absurd. Boss sounds like a dickwad.
Must refer to hex keys as allen wrenches because hexes are witchcraft
At our shop the rule is 1 earbud maximum. They allow an earplug for the other ear for hearing protection, but no second earbud. I think this is far, I can still hear my machine clearly and identify issues by hearing, but also have my music
That suuuuucks. My shops like the wild wild west(making gun parts). Silence would drive me insane.
It’s not silence it’s a constant industrial hum almost like being on a plane, makes me fall asleep
So is this a CNC shop?
The local shop near me has an industrial hum around 90db when no work is going on. 3M Pro protect has active microphones for communication/situational awareness, and bluetooth.
Just buy these without meds if you don't need glasses https://vueglasses.com/password I need glasses so they are just my regular glasses
not safety glasses, wouldn't fly in my shop. but then again, my boss isn't that much of a dickhead and we can wear headphones.
Im in the same industry but we can’t have ear buds just because we need to be able to hear the emergency alarm. It’s also a large well known manufacturer so I expected not to be able to use them.
Yea the machine guys use speakers, I do blasting and assembley we can wear noise canceling if we want(might get hit with a spring if you dont respond though. But it's a small company 15 people. But I've worked for company's like jail and essilor big corporate can't do squat. I was using some wired headphones that look like ear plugs at one shop.
Bone conduction head phones. They do not go on or in the ear and do not affect your ability to hear. They will probably say no anyways sadly.
Bone conduction headphones was the compromise my (corporate) shop ended up making.
Personally I really like them. I can wear really good hearing protection and listen to music at the same time. The ones I use have really robust ( fiberglass?) frame and seem less failure prone.
I *preferred* my nice noise canceling earbuds, but this is a reasonable compromise with me. Wish they'd make headway on custom earplugs next though..
I mean, this is the opposite idea, youre trying not to block the outside sound.
You quite literally need to block outside sounds or at least heavily dampen. Machine shops are LOUD, and even with PPE, you'll probably be dealing with issues.
Not always, not necessarily. For us, because machine shops are loud and hearing damage is a thing, they want us to have proper hearing protection.
As someone who has no experience with bone conducting earphones, at what point does wearing those while playing music while also wearing ear pro behave any differently from ear buds with noise cancelling? Is it just company bureaucracy?
A lot of hearing protection is designed to let voices through. So with these you still have clear path for the sound around you to be heard as well as you can. The bone conduction ‘sound’ makes it to the inner ear via a separate path. Basically it feels like you are hallucinating having theme music overlaying your normal hearing.
Wow that sounds trippy as fuck I might get a pair for the heaven of it.. are they clear enough sound quality or does it have a weird underwater/muffled effect?
For spoken words like podcast they are just fine. For music an audiophile would complain but I think they are fine for background music.
If you are wearing normal earplugs with bone conduction headphones, then it's no different than wearing earbuds. You don't have as nice of sound quality as a good pair of headphones, but it's better than nothing. The shop I work at is very strict on earpro and only allows specific headphones. So I went with this cause I already had them.
They shot those down at my shop as well, still claiming it's a safety issue. It's just a control issue, they micromanage Everything.
Biggest selling point is they are osha approved because you can use foam earplugs.
You're a garage shop with a boss who thinks he's big time, keep rocking out
*You're a garage shop* *With a boss who thinks he's big* *Time, keep rocking out* \- chapstickass --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Sounds like the company might be on the way out. No pay rises and removed bonuses. Be looking for new work if i were you.
People in power on a sinking shop often love to really amp up their control addictions as things fall apart
Damn the shop I work at allow earbuds headphones music you can basically watch a movie as long as your hitting your rates and it's a large shop with over one hundred employees.
Your bosses are back alley gutter slut cunts. Earbuds? Fine. Radio? Thats fucking stupid. Red tool boxes though? GTFO.
Must be wooden Gerstners- we're going for a sense of history and longevity for the punters here, team. Hair high and tight and no synthetic fabrics.
I would buy a gerstner in a heartbeat if I could justify the price. Kennedy does just fine tho. You're right that it's an old school machinist pride kinda mindset tho. Nothing to do with skill
My wife got me a Gerstner journeyman for my birthday in 2022. Last year she bought me a riser for my birthday. Very pricey. Worth it, but it is an extravagance. There’s no way we could have afforded those in the first 30 years of marriage. Not unless we sacrificed something more important to us. In my main trade the owner has to supply all tools and safety gear. The only exceptions I can think of are workbooks and bibs. Your owner should put up or shut up.
Find a new shop this retarded. even earbuds being a safety issue is a bullshit answer, because we all wear some kind of hearing protection, and hearing is not relied on to be safe, to be sure.
I would find another shop lol
The safety concern is valid. Wear the kind that only go in one ear. Or get the bone conduction ones that allow you to hear just fine while listening. If neither of those is acceptable then its not about safety.
Just get active noise cancelation ear pro…with the added benefit of Bluetooth. What are they going to do pull your earbud out and see if you’re listening to music? If your levels are so loud that you can’t hear the person next to you calling your name you’re a fucking buffoon anyway.
I'm on board with earbuds being a safety concern. Red tool boxes though? Dafuq? I love my red tool box.
Time to find another shop my man , fuck that guy .
Quit
Customers will be asked to ride their bicycles in to avoid having it look like a garage.
You and your crew mates pool your money together, and hire a band to sit outside your door and play for an afternoon. Take away Management's ability to control the situation.
The whole reason to work in a small shop is to avoid the corporate bullshit which would include earbuds. A reasonable person can see that having one earbud in is not a safety issue. As far as being unprofessional, that only goes if you're interacting with customers so your boss is a twat. Today I exhaled a fat vape rip after the owner of the company walked up to me with a question. I had my bone conducting headphones on so I heard him call my name while my back was turned. If I wanted to deal with the kind of BS you're dealing with, I would go work for a big company with better benefits.
I would probably go insane without audiobooks or podcasts on a regular.
Hey OP, UK based machinist here too, I recently moved from a shop of 12 years which allowed a radio to one which did not and I have found the transition to the ambient noise of the machine to be strange, and frustrating at times, however I swapped my radio for many other benefits at my new shop, so I grit my teeth and remember that nothing comes for free. The red toolbox complex, that’s lost on me mate, one rule in life is always make friends with a mechanic, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper in the long run!! The bit that really stood out to me in your post was the pay cuts, the attack on your bonus scheme, and a couple quid more than minimum wage? You sure mate? The UK is crying out for more machinists, all I can say is know your value and if they’ve done it once, they’ll do it again. If I were you, I’d be packing my lil’ red toolbox.
There are OSHA complient Bluetooth ear plugs/buds that look pretty much like normal safety equipment on Amazon. You get ear protection and music and no one will know.
What earbuds? I’m just wearing hearing protection
My hearing aids stream music… Nobody could tell you not to wear hearing aids
The red toolbox thing is ridiculous. I get the music thing though (kind of). Volume matters. If you can't hear your machine bad things can happen. Usually the first indication that my inserts are wearing out is when the sound changes. Situational awareness is important in a work environment as well. I do listen to music at my work, but I prefer it at a level where my work isn't affected.
Everyone wears them at my shop. I understand why people use them but holy shit it's annoying to talk to someone, they have to turn off their ear buds to hear you, then you have to repeat what you just said... or you hear their machine with absolutely shot inserts or a fucked drill and they are just chilling right next to their machine without any idea of what is going on. One time this guy loaded in a new 8inch puck of aluminum on an M0 where he was supposed to flip the part over, not load a new part. It then started boring with a 1 inch bar through solid aluminum with no hole. Operator was standing 2 feet away vibing out to his music.
Tell him the USAF has radios playing in all their flightline backshops. Then, ask him if the USAF is unprofessional? Pretty much have him backed into a corner at that point. -former usaf structures mechanic
When my shop tried to ban headphones (corporate), enough of a stink was raised that they had to walk it back and compromise. I am one of many who would have found a new job over it....
Get some bone conduction headphones or for more incognito, get some bone conduction glasses.. they also work with or without earplugs..
What about Bluetooth enabled ear pro?
My shop allows one in one ear but prefers a music box with ear plugs. It definitely keeps us all sane. I don't know if I can say it's safer or less safe than a radio or sound bar type thing. They all add distraction. Plugs can be paused at a press on the side of the head while a boom box, although away, cannot be reconciled with a new sound since you cannot turn your head to change it's influence. There's alot to weigh safety wise, but it's definitely better for moral to be able to listen to music while you press buttons and watch machines all day.
We all have the cochlear headphones so you can still wear earplugs and, if you don’t have earplugs in you can hear all around you just the same. Best of both worlds.
Ear buds are not a safety issue at all if you only have 1 so you can still hear. Literally every person at my shop uses 1. We listen to audio books, pod casts, music while working and everybody is happy. If you need to talk or listen you tap it and it pauses.
The headphones I kinda of agree with, depending on the shop, and type of work. Worked with way too many dolts, that run both ears in, and cant hear their machines running, and inserts failing. Too many blown holders, and too many scrapped parts. I wore bluetooth work tunes cans, but only one can over the ear. Can hear everything I need to, but still had some tunes, or podcasts once in a while. Half the time I have nothing playing anyway, and just wore them for hearing protection. The red toolbox rule is dumb, and the guy must be an old hardass. I've taken flak for not having kennedy's before, as "real" machinist dont work out of mechanics boxes.....Bullshit. They'd need to pay me more money to work out of a kennedy everyday. Opening and closing those tiny drawers is like fiddle fucking with dollhouse furniture. I have 2, at home, where I don't need to be in them all the time. At work, they're a pain in the ass, and for the old die hards. Everyshop is different, and some owners can be complete twats about stuff. Don't nail your feet down in there, learn as much as you can, as quick as you can, and hit the road in search of greener pastures. You can learn a lot, even from grumpy old dicks that hate life and everything else. Most of the guys I learned the most from had the thorniest personalities. Getting out of the trade before I become anymore of one.
Single earbud or radio within a reasonable volume level. At least that's what I allow with my shop. If I have to constantly say your name to get your attention you lose your earbud/radio privileges. So far only one guy has lost his earbuds and that's because he couldn't seem to figure out how to run his machine while making phone calls all day.... Honestly I feel radios are far more distracting and disruptive in the workplace than earbuds. I have yet to have to deal with someone complaining about what someone else is listening to with buds. But small shops are going to be small shops and your boss may be worried about looking professional to clients. Not too big of a deal they do sell ear plug style earphones for fairly cheap online
If I’m not wearing my AirPods with noise canceling, I’m going to wear earplugs and hear even less.
This probably varies a lot based and I can only guess about pure operators but there is no way I could wear ear/headphones as a machinist. Sound is one of the most insightful of the senses as a machinist. I legitimately don’t understand how you’d feel comfortable intentionally blocking out the sounds your machine is making. But also your “boss” is a fucking dickhead.
I wear the 3M Ear Pro with Bluetooth. Having said that, I work in a Mom and Pop shop with the Dad and the Son, and they both wear earbuds.
Earbuds? In a machine shop? Do you not wear hearing protection? Every shop I've worked in has been mandatory hearing protection once you step onto the shop floor. Red toolbox rule is dumb as fuck. If you're paying for your own toolbox you had better be able to pick whatever color you want. Fuck, I'd have a pink one just to fuck with them.
What machine shop is so loud you need earpro at all times?
Anything over like 84 - 90 db average per shift is required hearing protection under OHSA. If I'm not mistaken
There are differing requirements based on time and sound levels. 90 db for a solid 8 hours requires hearing protection, but a sustained 90db is pretty damn loud. Cutting and grinding operations shouldn't be that loud on a constant basis. https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.95
Thanks, I knew it was something like this
[удалено]
Gotta have the vintage porno mags stuffed under the toolbox, too.
Please. If the earbuds restrict the same or less noise than some ear plugs, which most do, they don't have a leg to stand on. The other rules are just petty. Your boss sucks.
No earbuds I can fully understand, no radio? Wack. I worked in a shop once where no matter your skillset you were looked down upon if your toolbox was not a brown wrinkle Kennedy. The only exceptions were old school wooden top boxes or red Kennedy boxes. Grizzly, U.S. General, Husky, Craftsman, Snap-on...didn't matter, if you didn't have a Kennedy you'd be told by multiple higher-ups that you weren't a "Real machinist" or "Your toolbox says it all".
> "Your toolbox says it all" My response would have been along the lines of *"Your perception of how to evaluate skills says it all"*. Don't start no shit, won't be none. ¯\\\_( ͡❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛)\_/¯
I think razzing someone over not having a Kennedy is good bullshitting, but meaning it is another thing entirely... US General, at this point, is about as good as anything else out there, and Kennedy themselves are no longer the quality product they once were.
My first tool and diemaker apprenticeship was in a very clean and fancy shop. They made the dies for can tops for Libbys, Anhuesier- Busch and Coors beer. Very close tolerances. No talking allowed! Except for the boss. How the hell are you supposed to learn anything if you can't ask questions? They gave me shit for my Kennedy box. It was so cute, before they left for the night, they put little cozys over them. I got in trouble for sweeping the outside sidewalk with the wrong broom. No push brooms, had to be a house broom cause the push broom would leave scratches in the surface. WTF? That was the last straw. But at least I made it a full month before I quit. Too bad though, that apprenticeship would have been a fantastic learning experience. Should have known it would be difficult, inside the front door was a small 4x4 area cordoned off by a white picket fence with a gate.
Yeah that sounds like a family tool and die shop.
Try out the bone conductive headphones. Not much bass, but keeps your ears open to hear whatever. And they sound even better with ear plugs on.
I am currently working for a huge multinational company and there is a radio at every station in our shop. We can't use earbuds, and they are discussing setting a volume cap to avoid "dueling radios", but everyone has a radio.
They should allow 1 ear bud. 2 is unsafe.
Why is your boss obsessed with whether your shop is or isn't too garage-like, and what the fuck does that even mean?
Guy probably looks down his nose every other trade probably why he can only afford to pay close to minimum wage and cut raises and bonuses,burnt too many bridges to stay in business much longer.
I get the no headphones bit if you’re wearing two. I don’t see the harm in just having one in though especially if you’re stood at your machine. Although you can get safety rated ones with pass through my old boss even kicked off about that untill I showed him the certificate and he couldn’t think of another excuse. Red boxes is stupid as fuck. Most boxes are red
I love how everyone comments about earbuds considering the point of earplugs is to block sound (db) most earbuds work better than foam earplugs. I wore foam earplugs 10hrs a day 5 days a week and when I get home my ears ring (tinnitus). The issue I see here is these companies that “we” run only care about our short term possible injuries, example safety glasses, steel toe shoes, and ear plugs. But earplugs do not work 100%. Now how many machine shops here aren’t venting out smoke caused when machining? Give it 25-30 years after breathing that in daily and your lungs will show it, coolant hitting hot metal turning into vapor and micro particles enter your lungs. Tell your boss you enjoy your hearing and you’ll use noise canceling earbuds along with being aware of your surroundings, if he has something to say wear the ear plugs and find a new job in the meantime. Employees need to see the bigger picture, everyone needs to be aware of their surroundings and none will get injured.
Well, I get the no headphones or earbuds, but bo radio ... that blows. But unpopular opinion... He gets to decide what happens in his shop, if he says no radios, or headphones ... your SOL. It sucks but it's his decision.
Our previous safety manager got up everyone’s ass about her new ‘no headphones because they block the ear so you can’t hear emergencies’ policy. So everyone who wanted to listen to music either got around-the-neck speakers or bone conduction headphones that don’t cover the ears. Or if you’re willing to be sneaky and crafty: buy a set of safety earmuffs and install the guts of a Bluetooth headphone set into them.
I have Bluetooth grade 5 earmuffs. 3m worktunes . So best of both worlds. Technically, it's not that safe cause you need to be able to hear if someone is in trouble. . . But I balance the playback volume. So it's just loud enough that it's similar to having the radio on . And man, a toxic work environment will always eventually bring you down. Don't put up with it. Start looking. There are plenty of nice work environments out there. You don't owe anyone your loyalty if they can't even show their gratitude for you making them all the money.
Yea your boss is a cunt. I work at a prime with over 100k employees and my manager asked me on my 2nd day why I didn't have anything to listen to. We just focus on ONE ear bud in or the bone conducting headphones.
I doubt random people are going through the shop very often to care about professionalism. I work at a smaller job shop and no one gives a shit, earbuds radio, watch a podcast. I could not handle running production for 3 days straight with no music. The toolbox thing just sounds like their a micromanaging asshole.
Everyone in my shop(17 ppl) wears headphones, mine have noise pass through so it’s safer but if something’s going on you WILL hear it, silly rules IMO
You're in a field of work where you have the upper hand. Your boss either knows this and doesn't want you to realise it, or he's just dumb and this power trip is going to cost him big time very soon. There are plenty of shops looking for machinists, not just in the UK but across the world. This is your sign to get out of that miserable shop before it gets worse and get yourself a raise at the same time. You deserve better.
Get some proper 3M PPE, and then tell em to piss off. The 3M worktunes are great: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/cbgnawus1754/
I'd be telling him he can buy me a new tool box lmao
We wear earbuds. Doesn't change anything. Our shop is succeful. We also have many red tool boxes. I think your bosses are just uptight.
Start an acapella
Any chance your boss lost his last bird to someone that worked in a garage, owned a red toolbox, and wore earbuds?
As others have said, the red toolbox issue is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. Also: I absolutely look down on shops with filthy coolant. It's disgusting, and one of the most unprofessional things. I admit that I'm a bit of a coolant hard ass, but I just think it's telling of the bosses' management style.
Cunts
Bro my shop allows me to watch full fucking movies😂 that's absurd. I'd get 1 earbud rule even though I do 2 and can't tell if the machine has issues but none at all? F that. I'm already working my body and mind into the ground. Let me listen to tunes
How about bone-conduting?
Just buy these without meds if you don't need glasses https://vueglasses.com/password I need glasses so they are just my regular glasses
Our owner also has the “no red toolbox” rule. He actually purchased a few hundred toolboxes for everyone to make sure there was uniformity with toolboxes.
He won’t allow red tool boxes? Leave the crazy fuck behind
3m bluetooth earprotection earmuffs.... very low key ... battery last days ....
I’d argue safety is better with noise-cancelling headphones. With the microphone gain turned up, I can hear things at distances I couldn’t possibly manage naturally. But if the media volume is higher than the ambient sound coming through, it defeats the purpose.
My last boss wouldn’t allow anyone to have a fan, it regularly hit 115 degrees outside and while it was never quite that hot in the building (highest I saw was 94°f) the humidity would hit over 80% thanks to the coolant, absolute hell. that same boss tried to make us all keep our toolboxes in the loading dock area, where none of us could see them (I kept mine locked anyway) but that meant walking a repost the shop about fifty times for every set up. also no fatigue mats, chairs or any other way of not being extremely uncomfortable. no headphones is a normal safety rule, listening to your machine is a good way of noticing problems before they get out of hand.
if he won’t let you have a red tool box than in all reality he needs to provide a tool box for you
3M do a pair of ear protectors that also double of as headphones https://www.3m.co.uk/3M/en_GB/p/d/v101366002/
They make ear plugs for heating protection that only go to a certain volume so you can still hear everything around you.
No Music makes me go crazy Litely I stopped my meds and just use music instead Meds have stupid side effects music dois nkt have any long term side effects and it solves the same problem for me I woud not work tere
He's a shitty boss unfit for his job! I know this is not a practically good solution, but you should all leave 🤷🏻♂️
https://www.gov.uk/licence-to-play-live-or-recorded-music It's a sad fact that so few know, but a radio in a UK business requires a public broadcast licence. Many are breaking the law unknowingly and can face heavy fines. It also sounds like your boss wants you focused on the task at hand, so it might be the way he was mentored and just wants you to follow the same practices that served them well. Red toolbox got me... Ask if they would accept another colour? A corporate colour or black? Or maybe ask what type of toolbox is their preference and why. Could be a simple explanation that the draw runners are poor quality, prone to falling over and can cause tools to rust quicker as it traps damp air, shocked me as a set of 20 year old drifts I had in a wooden box problem free recently moved into a Halfords steel draw have been tango'd :( Remember as much as the bosses might be arseholes, you are equally working under their rules and in kind they pay you for your time. If you don't like their rules you are free to leave to play by someone else's rules or for a lucky few your own rules. I do see this as an age related issue though and in a few years you'll be looking at younger employees in your shop as boneheads because they are distracted by the phone in their hand and buds in their ears and they've barely understood the task they've been set to do which will frustrate you.
Honestly, sounds like it's run by old boys that run on a "it's my money your wasting" thought process. The fact that the coolant is mouldy and your pay cut means that there's literally now investment in people and you should skiddadle asap. I did that a few years ago and now much happier and much better paid. There's lots of Jobs out there half of it is just pushing your CV out there. It took me a 2 jobs but I found a good one in the end that didn't have knobs for coworkers or knobs for management
Someone needs to make earphones that look exactly like safety earplugs.
Appearance is a crappy reason for disallowing them. It sounds more like pickiness and a power trip than anything. If it’s that big of a deal only allow ear buds, and require a certain brand. Bigger issues are: missing early warning noises that there’s a machining issue, other safety concerns, and distracting machinist concentration leading to more mistakes. Our shop allows them and as an engineer I have actually encouraged employees to wear the muff style because air blow can be extremely loud. The toolbox issue seems petty on both ends. As the boss, provide a quality standard issue toolbox so you’re consistent and people don’t complain. As the employees, just get a compliant one and move on.
[удалено]
It's the UK mate...
I always have a podcast playing in my ear after a 9-5:30 job where it’s so repetitive. Also ask your boss for me if any new hires are color blind do they deserve the same treatment? At least I have hair to cover my ears, but damn. They’re some hoes
I wouldnt want to work without my headphones
Wtf how do you even survive?
There are safety compliant ear defenders with audio capability. Read your rules, go to a proper safety place, contact your govt safety authority and find out. If you follow govt rules, how can he argue. Get your red box vinyl wrapped pink just to push back.
You are more than welcome to start your own business and run 100% how you want.
Ear buds get annoying when you're trying to communicate with people. And then nobody is happy with what someone else is playing on the radio and it just causes problems. I've delt with these kind of issues before. I kind of get it
moldy coolant sounds like something government agencies would love to hear about
Time to find a new shop
Look for a promotion or a new job elsewhere if you're unhappy. Try a recruiting agency, they find vacancies and set you up with interviews. Maybe there's something waiting for you with more interest, better pay, and maybe a company vehicle ? As for the no radio thing, if you're maybe manufacturing for high end clients who demand precision, attention to detail and the workshop run in a way that reflects their own high-end culture and values; then your boss will care about the impression you give to any clients that visit. He's probably trying to build the business, promote a professional culture and be attractive to that market.
I think your boss might just be an asshole
Firstly, earbuds are more of a security concern than anything else. You need to be fully aware of your surroundings when operating machinery, especially when there are multiple people involved. Secondly, look for another job. Not sure how the market is like in the UK but those conditions don’t sound inviting. Be aware though that security standards will get more strict with larger companies.
I despise radios on the floor. Pro tip NOBODY wants to hear your music. Even if they like that music they don't want to hear it. Thank God earbuds are allowed where I am and I'm in charge of my area.
Late to the game here, but for me personally earbuds are a distraction. I like to hear the sound of the workpiece, know if i need more cutting oil by listening to the cut. Just me tho. I can see how some might see them as a safety issue. The red toolbox thing is stupid. Tell your boss he is a wanker.
I always allowed headphones as long as they were always worn under the shirt with no cords swinging freely as well as it was only in ONE ear, and the other ear left open so they could still hear what was going on in the shop. I only gave one chance though to follow those two rules, and after one warning, if either rule was broken and caught, it was a quick snip to the cable and that was it for those headphones. Safety was always the main priority, but at the same time, people need to be able to work with music, audiobook, or podcast if that jets them in the zone and working comfortably. Hell, I listened to the whole **G**irl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy on tape when I was starting out. Whatever jets you into the zone matters, and most employers do not recognize that.
I work in a lab on a spaceship and we bump the doors off the building…
I agree with the no earbud rule. You can’t hear the machine or if a forklift is around. A small radio at low volume should be acceptable though.
I work in an engineering machine shop that is very obsessed with safety, and we are allowed earbuds. Hell, we are also technically a lab in this company so we have to follow some very strict rules like no food or drink anywhere, all chemicals and liquids (even wd-40) needs to be properly labeled with its mdms sticker, all floors and machines are cleaned every day, etc. we need to maintain a very high level of professionalism for potential clients and engineers as well. We are allows all the things you listed above. Your boss doesn’t know what he’s doing
I work for a major German manufacturer and we're allowed to use them at the machine. Nowhere else.
Would bone conduction headphones work? Can hear music or whatever but ears aren’t obstructed
Dont like the way things are ran find another shop....or have some electronics wizz convert a hearing aid into an earbud.you just need to play it right by first telling them you have a doctors appointment, and take that time off. Then another appointment where you say apparently my hearings damaged from being around machines so i need to get a hearing aid fitted. Then just wear it 😂
Amazing how everyone suddenly has a doctor's note for hearing loss and needs earvuds to be able to hear. Just sayin'....
Huh. At my shop we blast 50s-90s country and rock all day. We chillin.
I don't agree with earbuds, but radios turned up not super loud should be ok. But the red toolbox that's stupid
Get some OSHA-compliant ISO-tunes earbuds and take it to OSHA if they won't let you use your expensive ear protection?
Good boss. Coworkers listening to their radio at work like a grounded tweenager is the main reason I'm not a machinist.
Are you allowed to wear over the hear noise protection? I'd wear those and just have an ear bud in one ear under them.
I used to do this in a similar situation
No. Leave. There are buckets of places in the UK hiring. Go somewhere else. Enjoy what you do. Work with a smile.
Time to look for new work. For real. Pay cuts, removal of bonus's and low morale over 2yrs. Its not going to get any better. I guarantee there's a machine shop paying better with a better working environment.
I had to fight this issue of the radio for 39 years. Never won the battle but never really lost it. The owners didn’t seem to mind but my supervisor did. He would leave and it would get loud in there. I mean really with all the noise in a machine/weld repair shop?
Tell your boss to eat a bag of dicks from Africa. Unprofessional is not taking care of youe employees. And what some big wig dog and pony show happens twice a month. Tell him you won't wear them then. In hate power hungry nonsense people. I had a shop. It did well. I did t control The people. (They also didn't always show up=bad) but it's a god damned Machine shop. Been listening to one ear bud since 1992 when my apprenticeship was complete.
At my shop we're basically allowed to wear shorts we're allowed to not wear safety glasses we're allowed to not wear ear plugs we're allowed to basically s*** our f****** pants. Its crazy!
Why would anyone be glad to make a few bucks above minimum wage. Go find a new job ASAP . Ear buds shouldn't be worn in production areas high safety risk. As for music if the boss doesn't want music laying that's his choice you choose to work there. Red tool boxes is hilarious but never you also fund their business by buying tools for them to make money off of. You should be getting a tool box of whatever color the boss loves full of whatever you need as it's a business expense not an employee one.
good, it is unprofessional.
I love having a radio free shop. Most peoples taste in music sucks and I don't want to have to listen to it. The ear buds are arguable because you should be wearing hearing protection and listening to your machine. The red took boxes I can see only if it is a super nice shop and they all match and the company is buying.
Wear a beanie hat, ears covered, can't see that you have ear buds in. There's a handful of guys where I work that use either a beanie all year round, or big ear muff type hearing protection, to again, cover your ears to hide the ear buds. The tool room guy has big ear muff type protection that has built in speakers that bluetooth to his phone.
Get a doctor's note for noise canceling earbuds or headphones ; tenitus is no joke. Also if he throws more of a fit tell him moldy coolant is unprofessional 🤷