HAVE YOU GOT INDUSTRIAL DEAFNESS? – A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO WHAT IT INVOLVES AND WHAT TO DO NEXT
HAVE YOU GOT INDUSTRIAL DEAFNESS?
Do you suspect that you may have a noise induced hearing problem due to long periods of time of exposure at work? Have you been working in a high noise level environment and are now facing ear ailments? Are you hearing a constant nagging whistling or ringing sound in your ears or a plain case of slight or serious deafness? It is most likely that due to the exposure to high noise levels that you have developed a form of industrial deafness.
The deafness can last anything from up to a few hours after the exposure to a longer more permanent variation of symptoms.
In its lesser minor form the damage will be temporary but in its most serious cases the industrial deafness has known to be more permanent and the trauma to the hearing is life changing, such as when the ears are perforated or there is imminent deafness in both ears.
There are two major denominations of the damage noise induced deafness can belong to, the first is tinnitus and the second is acoustic shock syndrome. Where the former is involved with the nagging of a ringing sound constantly in the ears the latter involves damage in and around the ears.
Any level of industrial deafness can be caused by long exposure to high noise levels although the extent of the injury will be dependent on the length of exposure and the level of the noise which would be less than 90 decibels.
WHAT YOUR INDUSTRIAL DEAFNESS INVOLVES
Once you have had some diagnosis and are 100% sure that you have developed industrial deafness then you must assess all the possible contributing factors to how you may have got the hearing defects. Are you an avid music fan? Play in a band? Go out raving a lot? Are you over 60 and it is possible that it is just a symptom of aging or is it a genuine result of being exposed to high noise for long periods of time in any working environment.
Looking back over your work history and noting dates and lengths of time for which you were exposed to what levels of noise will be useful to help identify where it is possible that the industrial deafness began and developed.
Considering places of work and where it is most likely that you may have developed the hearing problem will help in your industrial deafness claim further on. Some places which are common place for causing hearing complaints are factories in particular textile manufacturing factories with all those industrial machines, building sites with various noisy tools and equipment , motorway and road repairing, mining, quarrying, engineering and construction environments, welding garages, and foundries. The list goes on and includes music studios, night clubs, bars, concerts, outdoor events and any other loud noisy working environment which can cause various levels of noise induced deafness when exposed to for long periods of time.
Your hearing problem may come in many forms if it is the tinnitus then it is most probable that it is the constant ringing or humming sound in one or both ears which is the root cause of the complaint. This can be extremely distracting for the sufferers to live with and can often lead to sufferers becoming depressed and anxious.
On the other hand there is the acoustic shock syndrome which has its own distinguishable symptoms which contain a number of ailments ranging from headaches and fatigue to anxiety, ear pain and general soreness of the ear and neck areas, hearing problems, numbness and tightening of the facial muscles, a feeling of pressure on the ears and feelings of vulnerability amongst sufferers. This can range in severity and length of symptoms being present in the sufferer and when twinned with tinnitus can form an unbearable, very uncomfortable condition for the sufferer.
It is vital to recognise where you have developed the deafness if you are thinking of pursuing an industrial deafness claim in the future and so as liability for your hearing damage can be rightfully established and whether it was before or after the Noise at Work Regulations Act of 1989 was implemented, a year later in 1990. Also the levels of noise in the places of work are significant so for example, if you worked from 1987 to 2002 then part of your exposure would be before the noise levels were regulated and clamped down to 90decibels whereas before that came in to place it was acceptable for employers to expose workers to higher levels in some circumstances, so you may have been exposed to much higher levels of noise without being aware.
The clampdown on noise levels in the work place is under review with measures being put into place to limit the levels and the current 90decibel maximum level faces a challenge from the Health and Safety Executive. The HSE are challenging the 90decibel limit and want that level bought down to an 87 decibel maximum, in order to protect the million plus employers out there who they estimated are at risk of developing industrial deafness due to their work environment.
WHAT TO DO NEXT
Once you have established that you have industrial deafness you have a time period in which you must submit your industrial deafness claim. An expert will begin your claim and will assess all relevant losses and grievances caused by the noise induced hearing defect and the severity of it on your hearing. It is important to provide all documents relating to your industrial deafness for the purpose of your claim and detail all tools and equipment used for the tasks that you undertook in the task. Many loud power tools can cause hearing defects at work particularly when not provided with enough protection for the ears whilst implementing the tools.
The onus to provide you with protection in your working environment is on your employer and where they knowingly allowed employers to use tools and equipment known to produce noise levels of 90decibels or over unprotected or with useless unsuitable protection then the liability of your industrial deafness lies on their shoulders.
This has become prominent in the number of growing industrial deafness claims coming forward from within the call centre industry. In many cases the complainants are reporting symptoms known to acoustic shock syndrome from sufferers who have developed the ear ailments as a direct result of having cheap unsuitable headphones provided by their employers. In 1991 this was regulated and headphones had to comply with placing noise limiters on headsets which when effective stopped conversations and shouting flowing through the headset if it was at higher levels than 118decibels. Some rogue traders did by all means act recklessly and did not adhere to the rule and continued providing their employers with cheap headsets and not the VOIP ones which were required. Hence these employers are directly liable and will face the wrath for their irresponsibility in the number of industrial deafness claims they are likely to see in the future from their staff.
Your industrial deafness claim will then progress depending on the complexity of your personal circumstances and the hearing ailments you have incurred. The liability of the cause of the industrial deafness may be questionable or denied by the employers in which case the decision makers will refer to as to whether your employer was acting within guidelines set by The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 and in accordance with 1989 Noise at Work Regulations Act and at what levels of noise was the employer deliberately allowing employees to work in.
If you used noisy power tools, equipment or machinery at work it will be useful to note for what time period you used the tools for so as to pin point the development of the industrial deafness.
Once you have made a claim and provided all the relevant details to your industrial deafness claim specialist they will assess your claim on medical grounds and give you an initial calculation of the amount of compensation which you may receive for your hearing injury which could range from anything starting at £4000 to £7000 which is for a claim where the claimant has a very minor, temporary, occasional hearing loss and or tinnitus up to £70 000 which is what a claimant can expect if they have developed complete severe hearing loss in both ears which can lead to speech defects and further complications to other senses and parts of the body and generally affects the sufferers whole life and well- being.
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