OSHA Has a Lot to Say about Noise!

OSHA, which is under the United States Department of Labor and stands for Occupational Safety and Health Administration, takes great interest in occupational noise exposure. You don’t see articles about it online very often, or on the local or national news, but twenty-two million workers are exposed to potentially damaging noise at work each year. Last year, U.S. business paid more than $1.5 million in penalties for not protecting workers from noise. To put it in even larger numbers, an estimated $242 million is spent annually on workers' compensation for hearing loss disability.

If you suspect that your own workplace is too noisy, here are some clues that you’re right. From the OSHA website:

• You hear ringing or humming in your ears when you leave work.
• You have to shout to be heard by a coworker an arm's length away.
• You experience temporary hearing loss when leaving work.

If you’re reading this, chances are you don’t work in an environment where machinery and heavy

equipment are involved. Those situations require other solutions to the problems. But regardless of your home or work situation, noise controls are the first things you can implement against excessive noise exposure. With the reduction of even a few decibels, danger to your hearing is reduced and communication is improved.

This is exactly when you’ll want a Yacker Tracker. You set the acceptable decibel level before the voice or siren go off,  and if you like, you can set your unit to be only visual in situations where people are hearing-impaired, or where you require complete silence. Maybe backstage at a play? Please Take a Look to see just how it works.

We’re pleased to offer two versions of the Yacker Tracker. We also have a Deluxe model. Please See our Products to decide which one is right for you and your needs. For More Information just click and you can read our Help and FAQ page. There is also a page on our site for you to contact us directly.

Always do the best you can to save your hearing. And thank you for making us part of it. If you have some stories to share, we’d love to hear them. Enjoy your quieter and more peaceful life!

Please see our Yacker Trackers to choose the one that’s right for you and your work environment. If you think about the unwanted noise in your daily life, you will probably thing of other uses for a Yacker Tracker. We have thought of some of them, too. Yacker Tracker Uses will take you to our Idea Page. If you click on our Blog you will see even more ideas. (We never stop thinking about you!)

We hope that we can be of help. Everyone is entitled to some peace of mind. And that’s usually accomplished in a quieter setting.

To your health!

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Quiet Promotes Healing

Did you know that hospitals are graded on the issue of noise in surveys about patient satisfaction conducted by Medicare? That’s how serious an issue it is. St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center in Syracuse, New York, installed its first Yacker Tracker in 2007 in its cardiac care unit. They saw patient satisfaction increase in a matter of months. The hospital smartly synchronized the overhead lighting to the Yacker Tracker, so when the device indicates that the acceptable level of noise has been reached, the lights dim.

At the time of installation, Rita Romano, then the director of environmental services said, "We recognize that a healing environment is a quiet environment. Patients in a quieter environment heal better." Romano went on to say, “Staff may become distracted or have trouble hearing orders. Noise in the environment can contribute to medical errors."

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association points out other dangers of too much noise. It can increase blood pressure, harm a developing fetus and make it difficult to sleep. We all know that even healthy people don’t perform as well with a lack of sleep. There are so many articles and studies about sleep deprivation and all of them mention serious health effects.

The Yacker Tracker can be indispensable in healthcare environments. If you consider a loud paging system, or intercoms, or the raised voices of some staff members and visitors, or carts rolling down a corridor, or even laughter coming from groups gathering in hallways, you’ll understand how noise can become a very real distraction. It’s the last thing anyone needs. It has also been pointed out that patients don’t like to hear staff having personal conversations. It makes them feel as if they are not a top priority. 

Please see our Yacker Trackers to choose the one that’s right for you and your work environment. If you think about the unwanted noise in your daily life, you will probably thing of other uses for a Yacker Tracker. We have thought of some of them, too. Yacker Tracker Uses will take you to our Idea Page. If you click on our Blog you will see even more ideas. (We never stop thinking about you!)

We hope that we can be of help. Everyone is entitled to some peace of mind. And that’s usually accomplished in a quieter setting.

To your health!

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Respectful Sound Level in Waiting Rooms

If you’ve ever been in a hospital waiting room, or a waiting room in a doctor’s office, you know that they can be busy places. Many people are concerned or stressed-out and though they may seem to be anxiously looking around, they are relying on a sense of quiet and calm to allow themselves to think clearly.

Many waiting rooms have video screens or televisions to offer some focused diversion. As you know, you will also see people on their laptops or reading books, or checking their cell phones. Some people pace and some people seem to just stare out a window or at their shoes. Whatever they’re doing, a burst of noise or a continuing high level of noise can be invasive and disturbing. Even if that person is just waiting for a regular office visit, no one likes to be jarred.

Many hospitals and medical offices have found great success using Yacker Trackers or Deluxe Yacker Trackers in their facilities. They allow a level of sound deemed appropriate for the environment. When the very easy system is set up for use, and the sound level selected, there is no embarrassment in someone being told to be quiet, or to go outside, and no one is glaring at a noisy person. They make the experience easier and more pleasant for everyone.

Please see our Yacker Trackers to choose the one that’s right for you. And of course there are many other uses for them, as well. Yacker Tracker Uses will take you to our idea page.

We hope that we can be of help. It’s what we’re here for!

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Happy New Year from Attention Getters, Inc!

Let’s Ring in 2017!

Turn off your Yacker Tracker for just a minute or two, and let’s all ring in the New Year! It’s full of promise. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” And we have 365 new ones ahead!

We wish you every happiness in 2017. And we most definitely wish you peace and quiet when you need it most!

Remember that we’re always here to help if we can. Just Contact Us and we’ll see what we can do!

Let’s make it a good one.

From the entire Yacker Tracker family to you.

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Happy Holidays from AGI - Yacker Tracker

Happy Holidays from Us to You!

The season is here and Santa is making out his list! We know how very good you’ve been, and whichever holiday you celebrate, we wish you only the most joyous of times.

To our clients and friends around the country, remember to stay warm, drive safely, and enjoy every moment that you can with those you hold dear.

If you need a last minute gift and are thinking of a Yacker Tracker, Contact Us and we’ll see what we can do! We’d be happy to be thought of as Santa’s helpers.

Let the fun begin!

Cheers from all of us at AGI, Home of the Original Yacker Tracker!

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It’s Getting Really Dangerous Out There!

According to NBC News, preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council indicate motor vehicle deaths were 9 percent higher through the first six months of 2016 than in 2015, and 18 percent higher than two years ago at the six month mark. This is the largest year-over-year percent increase in 50 years. An estimated 19,100 people have been killed on U.S. roads since January – enough to fill 382 school buses – and 2.2 million were seriously injured. The total estimated cost of these deaths and injuries is $205 billion. But if you have your children on that school bus, or in your own van or motorhome, and maybe someone else’s children are with you, you know that it’s not the monetary cost that matters. It’s the lives. There is nothing more precious.

There are many factors that contribute to these frightening and concerning statistics, and driver distraction is one of them. Drivers texting and talking on their cells, eating, even putting on makeup. We’re sure you’ve seen them. One news report showed a woman steering with her feet while she ate and texted. Holy mackerel. Can you imagine? And how safe is it for anyone, driving any kind of vehicle, with those people on the road?

As a concerned parent or guardian, it’s in everyone’s best interest if you can talk to your school about putting a Yacker Tracker on a school bus. No matter how experienced and careful the drivers are, it’s too easy to become distracted. Children and teenagers seem to bring chatter and shrieking wherever they go, and this can cause a driver to focus on that almost involuntarily. Those few moments can be the distraction that causes an accident. The same is true if you’re driving a van or motorhome. Yacker Trackers can be installed using the adapter and batteries. Your young passengers will quickly get the message that loud noises while in a moving vehicle are not okay. It’s a small investment to make to keep everyone safe on the streets and highways. You can decide together which noise level is acceptable. Make them part of the experience and teach them safe driving habits at the same time. Even though they’re kids, they might just thank you when you get them to where they’re going in one piece. Even if they don’t, the other parents will. And your local schools might throw you a parade.

Please See our Products and get started on the right road. And be careful out there!

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A Quieter Day Care!

Don’t you just love children? They fill your heart and your soul. They bring you joy and almost more smiles than anyone is entitled to. Those are probably just a few of the reasons that you either own a daycare facility or work in one. You might have your own business at your home, or you might work for a corporation dealing with the children of employees. You might be part of an organization that takes care of children after school. In any of these situations the kids you work with can be anywhere from infant age up to mid-teens. Whether you deal with two or two hundred children on a daily basis, you certainly know how much attention and concentration and good will it takes!

Amidst all of the activities and eating and naps and lessons, does just the sound of the room ever get to be too much for you? Do you ever feel as though you’re not interacting with normal children but with children raised by wolves? You’re not alone. And we have just what you need!

A Yacker Tracker will tell children of all ages, leaving out the infants, when noise is too much noise. You set the level that is acceptable, and when the noise in the room exceeds that, the Yacker Tracker changes color and the siren/speaker will come on. Learning how to control themselves is a plus of day care. You teach and show kids not to kick each other, or pull each other’s hair, or eat someone else’s lunch. You teach them how to share and how to be kind and how to play together. The Yacker Tracker is another piece of the puzzle. Kids making noise is a normal part of life. Your reaching for an aspirin every hour is not.

Once kids learn to control their “inside” and “outside” voices you may be surprised by the gratitude that their parents genuinely feel. And a lack of ear-splitting noise will make whatever day care you work in a happier place.

Please See our Products and select the one that’s right for you!  We’d be delighted to be part of making your day as calm and productive as possible.

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