Music-via-Earbuds Legal but Discouraged at Construction Sites

A construction worker wearing headphones to listen to music doesn’t violate federal safety rules, but listening to music on the job could pose a safety hazard, the Occupational Safety and Administration said in a new guidance letter.

OSHA’s acting enforcement director, Patrick Kapust, responded in the letter to a question about the legality of headphone use on the job. “No, there is no specific OSHA regulation that prohibits the use of headphones on a construction site,” Kapust wrote in the letter, released Dec. 12.

But Kapust added a warning: “Listening to music may produce a safety hazard by masking ...