Isn't it great when you finally get to buy that laptop that you've been saving months for? You've checked every review that's ever been written on the internet and taken some much needed advice from your hi-tech friends who work in the office's IT department. At long last, on a busy Saturday afternoon at your local computer megastore, you hand over a wad of cash to the checkout assistant and take home with you the latest piece of equipment that the computing market has to offer.



But your buzz of shopping adrenalin soon turns into disappointment when you take your new toy out of the box and it fails to start up. You've tried everything you can to get it to start but nothing seems to work. Frantically you search for the customer care number and dial it with your hands shaking whilst looking down at your laptop on the coffee table like it's a small unwell child.

On the phone you're welcomed by an automated voice and after four different selected choices from numbers one to three you eventually get put through to a human that's on the end of the line. It's easy to become angry when you're passed from one call centre operative to the next but eventually there is always a friendly advisor who seems to discover what the problem is.

You have to give it to them; I don't know if I could work in a call centre and speak to so many angry people on the phone, especially when it's recently been revealed that call centre operatives can be affected by acoustic shock, a hearing difficulty that has become branded as the new industrial injury for the 21st century.

Acoustic shock is a hearing condition that more than 1,000 call centre workers in Britain have suffered from and is usually caused by an unexpected loud noise or high pitched sound through a headset - even somebody screaming on the telephone line can cause the personal injury.

A high number of injury compensation claims have been lodged by call centre staff and more are expected to be made in near the future for the industrial deafness.

Personal injury solicitor Adrian Fordon is representing 83 members of staff from BT who alleges to have suffered industrial injuries caused by acoustic shock.

He said, "It could be the tip of the iceberg.

"I've travelled nationwide interviewing people from all sorts of backgrounds who have experienced this problem."

Although BT already paid out £90,000 to one employee who suffered acoustic shock, the company insists that all of their equipment has met standard regulations.

Robert Dunnet, spokesperson for BT, said, "BT does recognise the potential for harm from such noise interference and we work very closely with the unions and carry outside research into its causes."

At a recent conference in Glasgow, the increasing number of injury claims were highlighted by the president of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, Lisa Fowlie.

She said, "I'm alarmed at the incidents of acoustic shock, a sudden unexpected noise that can be received through headphones or an earpiece. It is something employers need to be aware of, because it's not a cheap business."

According to Ms Fowlie, £2.5 million has already been paid out to workers who have made industrial injury claims for acoustic shock.

Ms Fowlie added, "Acoustic shock is a pressing health and safety issue. More research is badly needed to help find ways of controlling it and it is only by working in cooperation with call centres, health experts and health and safety bodies that we'll achieve this."

With 900,000 people working in call centres across the UK, it is likely that future compensation claims could be made by members of staff who have suffered an industrial injury caused by acoustic shock.

So the next time you might be on the phone to a call centre worker with a difficult problem, be considerate and think about the person on the other end of the line. Whatever you do, try not to shout - you could cause them a serious personal injury by screaming down the telephone line.

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