Michael Quinion, who writes about the English language and new words in a website called World Wide Words, says that "acoustic shock" is a British term, and that it isn't new, but its use as a category of industrial injury is.

Here's acousticshock.org's definition of their namesake:

"The basic cause is a sudden, unexpected noise, often delivered at a very intense frequency. Call Centre operatives are subject to this noise from a variety of sources. The telephone equipment used in call centres produces electrical feedback, latent sonic energy spikes, together with faulty telephone lines, non compliant switchboards, turrets and headsets. The HSE have also made reference to other sources of acoustic damage as caller abuse (shouting, screaming, blowing whistles etc), background interference at the caller's location or ambient noise in the operator's location."

So apparently, every once in a while, a phone or headset will accidentally feedback or produce an extremely loud noise, damaging the ear the connected to the headset.

The website, which is run by the UK's Call Centre Management Association and a private group called Lilly Associates, warns that there have been more than 200 cases of acoustic shock hearing loss that have gone to court (presumably in the UK).

The first item I saw about this phenomenon was a union website warning call center workers about acoustic shock. The second was a press release from the Acoustic Safety Programme. The latter said that 170,000 Brits suffer from work-related hearing loss.

The Irish Independent reported on Monday November 7 on the issue. Eircom, a large Irish telecom company is being sued by one former employee, and others are likely to follow. The newspaper said that some employees were having their hearing tested to get ready for court.

--Harry Sheff