Injuries can happen in a work place and some of these injuries do not immediately show symptoms. In fact, it may take years before you realise that you have developed an injury. One of them is industrial deafness. Long-term exposure to noise in the workplace can cause this problem. Often, people think that loss of hearing is a common consequence of ageing, without realising that the problem can be traced back to their work in the past, years ago. Often it’s in their retirement before people notice that their hearing is starting to get impaired.
Your employer has a legal and moral duty to ensure that your long term good health is being taken care of as you perform your job or responsibilities. Thus, if you work in an environment where conditions may harm your hearing, your employer must make sure that you get the right protection equipment for your hearing and that you receive enough breaks to help your ears recover from continuous noise.
Sufferers of hearing loss have much to tell about how frustrating this injury is, which may even cause depression to some. If you think that your loss of hearing is caused by the noise that you sustained in your work place or where you used to work, then you are entitled to make a claim for industrial deafness compensation.
How Industrial Deafness Develops and How to Prevent It
The human hearing is a complex and delicate mechanism and exposure to loud sounds can have detrimental effects. Even less louder noises like 85 decibels can be harmful if sustained for a long period of time.
People who work in call centers often develop an acoustic shock due to their exposure to high frequency, high intensity sounds through a telephone or a headset that are set in high volumes. Such exposure can lead to hearing-related problems, which includes Tinnitus and a range of physical and psychological health issues.Tinnitus is characterised by buzzing sound in the ear, and this can result from excessive exposure to noise. Sufferers of this condition often experience anxiety or depression – resulting to poor quality of life.
Employers have the responsibility to protect their employees from acoustic shock while they work in the company. For instance, if the noise level in the work place reaches up to 80 dB by average, then the employer has the responsibility to educate his or her employees about the damaging effects of the noise and must provide enough hearing protection for them. If the noise is 85 dB or peaks at 137, then the employer must require the wearing of hearing protection.
If the company, in any way, failed to perform its duty to ensure the health and wellbeing of their workers, any worker who suffers from hearing loss and other related issues can make a claim for industry deafness compensation.
Are you showing symptoms of industrial deafness?
The first symptoms of hearing loss may include any or all of the following:
- Inability to follow some parts of the conversation
- Inability to hear clearly in an environment where there is background noise
- Turning the TV volume up
- Partners complaining that they are being ignored.
How to Maximize Claims Potential
In order to make a successful industry deafness compensation claim, you must follow certain guidelines, which include the following:
- You need to have your deafness condition established by consulting with a suitable medical professional, who will confirm through a detailed report the gravity of the condition.
- You must also be able to prove that the hearing problems were a consequence of the work environment. In view of this, you must collect evidence, including witness statements from workmates, regarding the workplace conditions.
- You must contest that your employer(s) could have foreseen the hearing injuries, considering the continual exposure to noise in the workplace.
- You must successfully show the negligence of your employers with regard to their insufficient or ineffective efforts in protecting you from noise in the workplace.
There are a number of factors that must be put into consideration for every potential compensation claim, and one of which is the severity of the condition. The claimant’s circumstances and levels of pain and suffering will account for the compensation that he or she will receive. Is the claimant suffering from complete or partial hearing loss? Are both ears affected, and is tinnitus present?
Also, you must understand that your claims will be subject to time limits involved, in relation to the development of the hearing problems. It is in this regard that your best decision is to speak with a qualified legal professional to understand the merits of your claim. You may want to consult with one of our qualified lawyers to discuss your case. At Compare Compensation Claims, you can compare the services and qualifications of some of the top personal injury solicitors in the UK.