Industrial Deafness Claims

If you suspect you are suffering from industrial deafness or work-related hearing loss Camps Solicitors can provide you with the help and advice you need to claim personal injury compensation.

Work-related hearing loss and deafness compensation

Deterioration of hearing is a natural part of getting old, and all of us will suffer some degree of hearing loss/deafness as we get older. However, hearing loss can also be caused or aggravated by unsafe working conditions, where employers have taken inadequate precautions to protect workers from the damaging effects of noisy environments.

In the ‘Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005′, the government set out the maximum levels of noise exposure that employees should be exposed to with and without the appropriate form of protection, such as ear defenders. Any workers continuously exposed to noise levels above 80 decibels (about the same level as the sound of rush hour traffic from inside your car) were required to have measures taken to protect their ears from deafness, hearing loss or tinnitus (ringing in the ears).

As well as protecting hearing in continuously noisy workplace environments, employers are responsible for providing protection for their workers for even short exposure to levels above 87 decibels, which is about the same as standing on the pavement near a busy road in rush hour.

Industrial deafness information

One important factor that distinguishes industrial or work related deafness/hearing loss from general age related decline is that it often affects sensitivity to certain sounds and frequencies of sound, most commonly those frequencies which occur in speech. Basically this means that someone suffering from industrial deafness will be able to hear high frequency and low frequency sounds reasonably well, but they will be less able to hear the middle range of frequencies from 1-4kHz (around the frequency of human speech).

In a person with age related hearing loss, there is a gradual loss of sensitivity as the frequency of the sound increases. A special test known as an audiogram can be used to measure a person’s sensitivity to different frequencies of sound, and it can also help to distinguish between age related and industrial deafness. So if you find yourself straining to hear what other people are saying, but you can hear other sounds quite clearly, it may be that you are suffering from work related hearing loss.

It is important to remember that as with most other personal injuries, time is of the essence when making a claim for hearing loss or deafness compensation for the damage that industrial deafness can cause someone. From the time you first become aware that you are suffering from work related hearing loss, or you are diagnosed as having it by a doctor, the law says you have 3 years in which to make a compensation claim.