INDUSTRIAL DEAFNESS COMPENSATION CLAIMS

Industrial deafness affects thousands of people every year and the consequences can have devastating effects on both work and family life. Our team of solicitors have detailed experience in dealing with industrial disease claims and are all members of The Law Society panel of personal injury experts. If you suffer from an injury which is as a result of your employer failing to take adequate care to protect you from this injury then we can help you to get the compensation you deserve.

The Noise at Work Regulations 1989 place obligations on employers to comply as follows:-

• every employer must ensure a noise assessment is performed where any employee is likely to be exposed to dangerous noise levels.
• the employer is under a duty to reduce the risk of noise damage to the lowest level reasonably practicable by muffling the noise, or reducing the period of time spent in a noisy environment.
• where an employee is likely to be exposed to between 85 dBA and 90 dBA hearing protection should be provided if requested by the employee. For employees exposed to over 90dBA the employer should provide employees with hearing protection without waiting for a request and they must take all reasonable steps to ensure hearing protection is fully used.
• an employer must advise and instruct his work force of the risks of damage to hearing from exposure to noise and of the steps that can be taken to reduce that risk.
• areas exceeding 90dBA are to be identified and marked as ear protection zones and as areas in which ear protection should be worn to reduce the risk of industrial deafness.

Deafness may be caused by factors other than noise suffered in a working environment and to prove the cause of the hearing loss it is necessary to have an audiogram carried out by an experienced medico-legal consultant who is sufficiently experienced in industrial deafness claims to be able to come to the correct conclusion. If your audiogram shows a typical noise induced hearing loss pattern and you have been exposed to excessive noise at work then you should be able to prove that your past employers are liable to pay compensation. If the audiogram is not typical of noise induced deafness or if there are doubts about the level of exposure to excessive noise then it may be difficult to prove the claim. The cause of deafness is a medical issue determined by medical specialists rather than by lawyers.

Specialist Solicitors will initially assess your claim at no cost to you and will deal with your claim using the no win no fee scheme. Compensation will be paid in full with no deductions. You will be kept fully informed in writing about the progress of your claim and our solicitors will always be available to discuss your claim on the telephone