Called the industrial factories of the 21st century, it seems that call centres may also be claimed to be taking over the role as the main reason for industrial deafness, despite the absence of traditional loud machinery, equipment or vehicles causing hearing damage.

Originating from the mid-1960s and becoming more widespread by the early 1970s onwards to handle larger numbers of customer contacts, it was only from the 1980s that the name ‘ call centre’ started to be used.

During the 1990s the call centre industry rapidly grew as the rise of the internet meant the company website became the central point of contact, essential to sales, customer service and technical support.

By 2003, there were 5,320 call centres in operation employing 800,000 people in the UK, a growth of 250 per cent since 1995.

At the start of 2011, there was estimated to be around 6,300 call centres in the UK which, according to industry analysts, employ over one million people, approximately 3.5 per cent of the country’s entire workforce.

While it was first thought to be a low risk occupation, in recent years, conditions such as Repetitive Strain Injury have emerged, as well as eyesight and posture problems leading to back injuries, and noise induced hearing loss.

One of the chief reasons for sustaining hearing loss in a call centre is acoustic shock, which can take place whenever a very high-pitched noise occurs on the telephone line caused by problems with faulty headphone sets, turrets, switchboards or telephone lines feeding back.

In addition, the large numbers of workers present constantly talking means that the general level of noise can become excessively high.

While in a traditional industrial or manufacturing workplace, where excessive noise levels are expected, the employer should ensure mandatory issuing of ear defenders, ear plugs and the creation of sealed off dangerous noise level zones, it is obviously not as straightforward in a call centre.

But there are a few practical, preventative measures which can be taken by employers to reduce the risk to their workforce, mostly involving the implementation of technology.

Noise-limiting headphones: which limit the level of noise able to be transmitted through them. However, even if set at the correct level, may be unsuitable as they can cause speech to sound muffled and unclear.

Shriek-rejection amplifiers: attached to a telephone line to monitor speech and other transmitted noise, the device will instantly detect and block abnormal frequency noise with only minimal disruption to conversation.

Noise-cancelling microphones: eliminates the majority of background noise allowing call centre workers to not have to speak so loudly to be heard by the caller and also helps to reduce surrounding noise.