Potential OSHA Sleeper Issue: Loud Data-Centers

An IT publications consultant, who says his ears still ring from years in the military working in shipboard engine rooms, makes the case for data-center employers to err on the side of caution by engineering workplace noise reduction measures. OSHA noise standards are not as strict as those recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), he notes, and there is the possibility that OSHA standards will be strengthened in the future. In any case, he says, “tinnitus sucks” and data centers should take the problem seriously. It’s far from clear, however, that either employers or workers will be happy with the technical solution this article considers as an example.