Can music headphones be used at work?
Can standard music headphones be used at work in a noisy job in place of hearing protection?
Key points on using music headphones as hearing protection at work
If there is noise risk then an employer has to provide hearing protection and monitor and enforce its use.
‘Hearing protection’ means a product certified to EN352 and all hearing protection must meet this standard.
Standard music headphones, even if noise cancelling, are not certified to this and are not hearing protection. Under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 they cannot be used as hearing protection.
Also, the noise cancelling may reduce external noise but the headphones will add it back again and more.
Hearing protection with Bluetooth is different - it is certified as hearing protection and has internal playback volume limits. They cannot play back internally so loud that the music is then over the noise limits. Those are OK to use.
GPs or HR cannot over-rule this and permit standard music headphones to be used, even if noise cancelling, and even if it is for ‘medical reasons’ it is not permitted.
When I refer to ‘headphones’ that applies equally to in-ear bud types, over-ear or bone conduction styles.
If you have no noise risk
If you have no noise risk in somewhere such as an office then crack on as there is nothing stopping them being used there. I do sometimes see companies who choose to ban them there as well, usually on the grounds of ‘you can’t hear the fire alarm when wearing them’. I don’t see any reason for this to be an issue though as you can easily check if people can still hear things like fire alarms, and there is no law saying they can’t be used.
They are also a little dodgy in places like warehouses where there may be no noise risk but there are vehicles such as forklifts whizzing around so I would caution against standard music headphones there too.
All the following comments pertain to jobs which do have a noise risk, and it is not all negative, there are suggested solutions as well.
The law says an employer can’t permit standard music headphones to be used
Employers have a legal duty to provide hearing protection which is certified as hearing protection under a branch of EN 352, and carries a CE or UKCA mark confirming it has been assessed as hearing protection. It will have performance figures such as an SNR value.
This is an absolute duty; GPs, HR or anyone else cannot exempt someone from wearing hearing protection in a high noise area, nor can they say it is OK to wear normal noise cancelling music headphones.
(I flag this specifically as I have come across both situations - a GP saying someone could use music headphones and a HR department saying they were OK to use as it was good for employee morale. In both cases they were flat-out wrong).
If music playing headphones do not have EN 352 certification then it is simply not allowed for them to be used in a high noise workplace.
Standard music headphones of any type are not certified as hearing protection therefore are not allowed to be used. Apple for example sometimes use ‘hearing protection function’ in their AirPods marketing but they are not certified as hearing protection.
There is a simple rule here - if you can’t lay your hands on a proper certified SNR figure for a product, then it is not hearing protection. Apple, Sony, Bose, etc. do not have a claimed SNR figure for any of their products. They are not hearing protection.
Noise reduction claims made by manufacturers for noise-cancelling headphones
Noise reduction levels in Apple Air Pods 2
Source: Apple, click to enlarge
Noise reduction levels claimed by music headphone manufacturers can seem quite good, for example this is the data for Apple Air Pods Pro 2 and with active noise cancellation they reduce noise levels by 25 to 30 dB, which is indeed a significant reduction.
I have some of these and some Sony XM5 over-ear ones and both do make a significant difference to background noise levels, but that is not certified under EN 352.
One problem is that often with active noise cancelling, the noise cancelling is not entirely consistent depending on the external noise, so you may not always be getting the noise reduction expected. This kind of very-simplified data can be misleading.
There is one more wee issue here to be aware of, and this will have non-noise people shaking their heads a bit, but the standards for noise safety are different around the world.
In Apple’s data here they are using American data so have things in that table like it being OK to be in 90 dB for up to four hours. No, here in the UK and in the EU, the safe limit for four hours is considered to be 88 dB, not 90 dB. We consider the safe time for a noise level of 90 dB to be two and a half hours, not four.
We can’t take manufacturer’s data as gospel.
Put it this way, if Apple could get their AirPods certified as hearing protection as the noise cancelling feature was so good and reliable they’d do it in a heartbeat, the sales would be huge! I am sure that will come soon - at some point Bose or Sony or Apple or someone will get their music headphones certified, but until then they simply aren’t hearing protection and can’t be used at work, no matter how good the data provided by manufacturers appears.
Noise cancelling removes noise, then the music adds it back.
People don’t tend to wear headphones quietly, nobody does. As a noise-nerd I am more aware of noise risks than most, but if I switch from my Sony XM5 or AirPod headphones to my ISOTunes hearing protection which has volume-limited music playback, the ISOTunes sounds incredibly quiet. ISOTunes are hearing protection first and foremost so the music playback is limited to below 85 dB(A) meaning they can be used at work.
There is no way I would listen to normal music headphones at that volume, nobody would.
That means if the noise-cancelling reduces external noise levels by 25dB (to use Apple’s data above) then the music playback will add that noise back in again plus a lot more, and if they are wearing them all day every day at work, their hearing will be damaged.
The employer can retain liability for hearing loss
As a follow-on from that, if someone has worn music headphones in a high noise area instead of hearing protection, un UK law the employer now has a liability for any music-induced hearing loss they may suffer. The employer has them working in a noise risk area and has not enforced the use of proper hearing protection therefore they now have no defence against any issues. If that person puts a claim in for hearing loss saying it has been caused by their job, the employer will be getting the cheque book out as they will more than likely lose a claim even if the loss is actually due to headphone use.
What about a medical claim of a need to use them?
This was a case I came across on a noise assessment - an employee claimed that they needed to wear their music headphones at work as they got too anxious to work unless they were listening to music.
However, no, their claimed need to listen to music to control anxiety still does not mean music headphones can be used when working in a high noise area.
There were three ways of dealing with it:
The employer provides hearing protection which has built-in music playback. (Care is needed here though as then the other 250 people in the factory will make the same claim and that’s a huge bill. I would recommend this is only done with a GP letter confirming the issue).
They are moved to a non-noise area, if there is one.
They simply get on with work not wearing them. An unpopular opinion I know, but I am old-school enough to believe an employer does not have to, and cannot, accommodate every issue and that not everyone is suitable for every job. Sometimes the world cannot accommodate everything. If it is an issue and there is no other resolution, they need to get a different job as the basic rule remains - if there is a noise risk then hearing protection must be used.
There is more on medical exemptions from hearing protection here but no medical claim can therefore mean normal music headphones can be used in a high noise area.
AirPods marketed with a ‘hearing protection’ function
Journalists talking about noise-cancelling headphones in the media and press don’t help to be honest. They throw around phrases like ‘hearing protection’ or ‘protecting hearing’ in relation to noise cancelling headphones but that is just wrong. ‘Hearing protection’ is a definite and specific thing and primarily it means it is certified as hearing protection, which these music headphones are not.
Journalists writing about using noise cancelling headphones as hearing protection are a little too free and easy with the terminology and misuse it constantly.
My recommended solution - it is not all bad news
There are a lot of types of hearing protection out there which do have music and/or radio playback facilities and they are great. They are certified as hearing protection meaning they have the EN 352 certification and an SNR rating. With these, the internal volume playback is limited so they cannot go loud enough to damage hearing but also cannot go loud enough to isolate someone and stop them hearing things like alarms or someone shouting to them.
There is a lot of rubbish on the market so be careful - some of the products on places like Amazon are truly terrible. I tried some Protear muffs with Bluetooth and they were like listening to some 1980s walkman headphones while sitting with a metal bucket on your head.
I recommend the ISOTunes range and they have a full range of muffs and in-ear plugs, some with an active feature which lets low volume noise through and some with a more basic fixed SNR. I use the ISOTunes Air Defenders all the time. Their battery lasts all day, they are comfy, the music quality is good, and they are not overly expensive. And importantly, you can still hear everything going on around you so they do not isolate the wearer.
An employer can provide those and there are benefits in doing so such as hugely increased compliance with the use of the hearing protection as people are seeing a benefit to it. Alternative, as long as the employer makes an ear plug and an ear muffler available free of charge, they could approve the ISOTunes ones but let employees pay for it as they would for their normal headphones.
ISOTunes have a large range of styles but the Air Defender are both the cheapest and excellent.
FAQ on using music headphones as hearing protection
My AirPods reduce external noise a lot, can I use those?
No, AirPods are not certified as hearing protection and cannot be used. I am sure that Apple will get their AirPods certified to EN352 at some point as the market would be huge for that, but until they they are not hearing protection.
This seems a bit petty, what is the difference between noise cancelling headphones and hearing protection with Bluetooth built-in?
Noise cancelling headphones reduce the external noise but not by an amount which is consistent or certified to the international standard EN352. They also play back internally at levels far in excess of the noise exposure limits for work and at levels which isolate the wearer from hearing alarms, vehicles, etc.
Hearing protectors with Bluetooth functionality are certified as hearing protection and carry and recognised SNR value. Internally, they will not play back at a volume which is loud enough to cause hearing damage or isolate the wearer.
More help and advice on hearing protection at work
Article last reviewed and updated April 2026
