Earbuds

[telecom_goddess]

oh god no I won't even share headsets at work which are over the ear. I would flat out refuse to use them due to sanitary reasons, I don't care what they say. You don't know how clean other people are! Plus the thought of ear infections....eeeeeuuuwww.

[MoonCat]

OH HELL NO.

That's how bacteria get passed around. Ear infections can be nasty. If there's a union, file a complaint. If no union, then consider getting everyone together as a group and speaking to whoever's in charge, politely but firmly. This is a BAD idea.

Tell them they're going to have to replace them fairly often anyway, because they don't last that long, so they might as well get enough for everyone. I'm pretty sure they get a bulk discount if they buy enough of the damn things anyway. Geez talk about cheap!

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Not only is that just gross, but ear buds form to peoples ears and should not be shared. Here's hoping that you will be able to get one of your own because yuck, just yuck. I would not want to share my earmolds for my hearing aids and that is about the same thing.

We got those last year and we're supposed to have enough for everyone, but hasn't worked out quite that way. When you have radios crap out on you and earpeices that die on you and you have to stop halfway through your shift to sign the dead radio back in, try out another radio to make sure it works before you sign it out, you've wasted several minutes of time.

We have at least 6 radios that are not functioning and several earpieces that have died as well. From what I've heard, it costs a small fortune to have someone come in to work on them, so we end up sharing sometimes, depending on how many employees we have on any given shift.

As for the earpieces, we're supposed to have a container of Sani Wipes by the timeclock where the radio closet is set up, but haven't had those in a while. One employee developed an infection in her ear from using the earpieces and had to go to the doctor for treatment - she brought back a doctor's note detailing the diagnosis and she couldn't wear the earbud until her condition cleared up.

So far I've not had any issues wearing the earbud as far as contracting some disease goes, but over time they do get stretched out and it's hard to keep that bud in your ear when you're moving around, so some days I've having to stop constantly and I've barely got enough room over my ear for my eyeglasses to fit.