Albert is a 91 year old retiree who worked hard his entire life. His career began in the military during WW2. Following his service he worked in STC, which later became Nortel, until 1977. He then moved on to Shorts and worked there until the mid-1990s. Both companies employed him in various factory roles. Unfortunately, due to lack of hearing protection at the time he began to suffer from industrial deafness.
Noise induced hearing loss often goes unnoticed
Noise induced hearing loss typically creeps up on you and it’s not immediately noticeable. This was the case with Albert and it went undiagnosed for many years. We compiled some common ways you can recognise deafness in a blog post. Upon seeing an advertisement for Paschal O’Hare Solicitors, Albert contacted us and explained he thinks he could be suffering from industrial deafness.
We had Albert examined by an audiologist who confirmed that he had moderate hearing loss. The hearing loss expert apportioned 40% of the hearing loss to his previous employments in STC and Shorts. As a result, we began the claims process on behalf of Albert. Previous case law had determined that employers would not be subject to modern health and safety standards before 1961. This meant that we could not recover compensation for the proportion of hearing loss that developed prior to this year.
We then entered negotiations with the insurance providers of Albert’s former employers and the case settled in the amount of £3,492.
If you believe you suffer from hearing loss due to working in a loud environment, we may be able to help you too. Learn more about our service or contact us for a free no obligation enquiry.
