Personal injury advice from
Thompsons Solicitors
Occupational Deafness
If you or a member of your family is suffering from occupational deafness, also known as noise induced hearing loss or industrial deafness, our specialist personal injury lawyers may be able to help you claim compensation. Contact us today on 0800 032 8511 for claim advice, or by completing a claim enquiry form.
What is Occupational Deafness?
Who is Affected by Occupational Deafness?
Work Related Tinnitus
Making a Compensation Claim
Industrial Deafness Compensation
Our Personal Injury Lawyers
What is Occupational Deafness?
It is well known that exposure to excessive noise can cause damage to the hearing. If sufficient hearing protection is not provided in noisy working environments, employees may suffer hearing loss as a result.
Occupational deafness, or noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) is irreversible damage to the hearing and usually occurs gradually over time when someone is routinely exposed to high levels of noise. One major incident of exposure to excessive noise, for example an explosion, can also cause NIHL.
Many people with NIHL have difficulty in hearing lower sounds, such as conversation, particularly when there is background noise. Other common symptoms include difficulty using the telephone and tinnitus. The onset of symptoms may begin some years after the sufferer has left the job / s in question.
Who is Affected by Occupational Deafness?
Occupational deafness has been known to occur as the result of exposure to excessive noise in a great many industries. Some of the most common of these include:
- Mining
- Shipbuilding
- Metalworking
- Manufacturing
- Engineering
- Construction
- Demolition
- Canning and Bottling
In general, if you have to: raise your voice to talk to colleagues when they are next to you, find the noise of your workplace instrusive or work with (or around) loud machinery without sufficient protection, you may be at risk of suffering damage to your hearing.
Employers have a responsibility to protect their staff from hazards in the workplace. In the case of loud environments, steps to help prevent injury could include the use of ear defenders or earplugs. If an employer fails to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their employees, and someone suffers hearing loss as a result, their employer could be held responsible.
Anyone formerly employed in an environment with consistently high levels of noise, whose hearing has deteriorated as a result or who has suffered tinnitus, may be entitled to claim compensation.
Successful compensation claims have been made for example, on behalf of people who have been employed using loud machinery or in factory environments, amongst others.
Work Related Tinnitus
Tinnitus often accompanies noise induced hearing loss and also occurs alone following exposure to excessive noise at work.
Sufferers experience sounds in the ears, usually a 'ringing' or 'buzzing' when there is no external sound. This can make it difficult to hear certain things clearly and can cause trouble sleeping.
Making a Compensation Claim
In order to make a successful personal injury claim for occupational deafness, it must be proven that the hearing loss can be attributed to the working conditions.
In every case, detailed medical evidence will be required. In any personal injury claim it is necessary to show that the person you are making a claim against owed you a duty of care, that they breached that duty of care (were negligent), and that the injury you sustained was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of that negligence.
Therefore, an experienced industrial deafness solicitor should be appointed to ensure that the claim proceeds to the best possible outcome.
Industrial Deafness Compensation
There are two elements to a compensation award. The first is for the pain and suffering you may have gone through and what is known as loss of amenity. This is called general damages and can include an award for your inability to do things that you used to be able to do before (eg wash your car, look after your garden, walk the dog etc). The award for loss of amenity can be for a short period or for ever if that is what the medical evidence supports.
The second element of a compensation award is for your losses and expenses and is known as special damages. It is important to keep receipts for any expenditure you have related to your condition, so that these can be reclaimed. The aim is to put you back in a position financially as if the occupational deafness had never occurred.
Our Personal Injury Lawyers
The Legal Line's occupational deafness lawyers have extensive knowledge of this type of claim, qualifying them to provide expert advice and assistance to anyone suffering from the condition.
Examples of successful cases that our lawyers have brought for their clients include:
Time Limit Waived in Industrial Deafness Case
Successful Occupational Deafness Claim for Yorkshire Butcher
Industrial Deafness Compensation for Former Mineworker
Industrial Deafness Claim for Parcel Service Worker
Police Mechanic Receives Compensation for Work Related Hearing Loss
Compensation for Victim of Industrial Deafness Caused by Woodworking Machinery
Bus Driver Compensated for Back Injury and Hearing Loss
MoD Employee Compensated for Accident-Related Tinnitus
- As a result of working with loud tools and machinery for many years, with several employers, our client developed noise induced hearing loss, also known as occupational deafness or industrial deafness.
His jobs involved laying pipes, cables and concrete, for which the claimant had to use equipment such as jackhammers, whackers, breakers and winches. He was not provided with any hearing protection, nor was he given advice or training about the dangers of exposure to loud noise.
In addition to the hearing loss he also suffers ringing in his ears on a daily basis. Our specialist industrial disease lawyers were able to recover £3,000 compensation on his behalf, in a personal injury claim against his former employers.
- As a result of working in a loud environment for around 20 years without adequate hearing protection, our client suffered noise induced hearing loss and developed tinnitus. It has now been recommended that he uses hearing aids.
The claimant was employed as a hosiery technician and worked in close proximity to 60 or more machines whilst working. The machinery was loud and there was also music played into the department at high volume during his working day. It was only in the latter part of his employment with the company that ear plugs were provided, by which time the machinery had been replaced by more modern, quieter equipment.
Our specialist personal injury lawyers acted on his behalf in an industrial deafness claim and secured £11,700 in compensation.
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Testimonials
"This compensation is not going to bring my health back. But it will make sure my wife will be looked after. It's a big relief to know that this has all been sorted out in my lifetime."
Charles
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