Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts
For 30 years, perhaps longer, I have been reading articles that noise is a great stressor and that stress is a great killer. A day or so ago I read the latest report that stress produced by noise is a leading killer.
Air bases cause a huge amount of noise, but OSHA construction regulations are the worst producers of noise stress. Some decades ago an inattentive construction site worker or inattentive equipment operator resulted in a death. OSHA went into action. Henceforth every piece of construction equipment that has a reverse gear must have a penetrating beep-beep system. Today the regulation has expanded to every truck, so that even delivery trucks are beep-beepers.
Now consider a construction site where there are bobcats operating, larger bulldozers and frontend loaders, cranes, and delivery trucks. The myriad of beep-beeps from 7am to 7pm is 12 hours of noise infliction on residents from the construction.
In civilized countries, such as Japan, this is not permitted, but in barbaric countries like the US it is.
By the time the work day finishes, those affected by the noise are stressed to the hilt and need three martinis to calm down, thus adding excessive alcohol to the stress damage of the noise.
The beep-beep is deadly and is a gratuitous regulation. All that is needed is that an equipment operator who runs over someone faces manslaughter charges and the construction company has civil liability. That would ensure the equipment operator paid attention. The fact that he might not pay attention incentivizes construction companies to make sure workers are not sharing the same space with equipment operators.
Instead, the cost, which should be born by the construction company, is imposed on the surrounding neighborhood.
OSHA is a regulatory agency that is all cost and zero benefit. Liability law can restrain unsafe work activities far better–and without the stress-killing noise–of OSHA regulations.
But in America don’t expect any intelligent policy to be formulated.
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“But in America don’t expect any intelligent policy to be formulated.”
No shit, Sherlock.
The system is designed from the ground up to put sociopaths in decision making positions.
I had some scaffolding on pre-cast building and had to grout a vertical panel joint two stories up.because the area was uneven I had the legs on two sides shimmed with wood.
“You can’t do that”,I was told by OSHA……so,what can I do?…..silence……….I said “I’m the one going up there,we can use wood pads on cranes but not scaffolding?……..”you can’t do that”……was all the jackass would say…….
Maybe that was the good old days,when they couldn’t tell you what you could do,only what you can’t do!?!……
I would bet if a person heard beep-beep all day long they might start to ignore the beeps making it just a dangerous as having no beeps?
Ding, ding, ding, ding….we have a winner.
UL, CSA, TUV and other electrical safety (mostly private) ratings companies on the other hand, get together to identify best practices, put forth specific recommendations, and DO THEIR OWN TESTING (for the most part). I never got a “hit” from any inspector that didn’t come with a solution/recommendation.
I thank Christ I don’t live in a city.
Having the beep means not having to pay a person(s) to direct traffic at the construction site. Cutting costs thru the bone to pass more profits up the heirarchy
My wife just bought a Hyundai Tuscon hybrid. Nice car and we love it…
except, the first few times she was leaving for work, I heard this LOUD beeping, I mean from the garage to upstairs with the TV on LOUD.
I finally ask her about it and she said, “oh yeah, it’s my car in reverse so I don’t hit anyone.”
A quick search showed how to unplug the module from behind the grill assembly.
Well, Hyundai must have seen the videos too, because the 2023 have an extended plastic piece that prevents you from being able to reach the plug.
So I just duct taped the little fucker. Hardly makes a sound now.
My thought is if you are too fucking stupid to pay attention to what’s going on around you, especially in parking lots, streets, drive ways, etc., you deserve that Darwin award.
Society functioning at the lowest common denominator can not function.
OSHA.
Requires vehicles to beep when backing up on job sites.
Also require workers wear hearing protection.