Woman receives compensation for Noise Induced Hearing Loss

Industrial Deafness

09/10/2008

A woman has received a four-figure sum in compensation after suffering an industrial disease caused by noise exposure at work.

Ms X worked as a Spinner in a textile mill from 1970 to 1972 and 1978 to 1980. She was exposed to excessive levels of noise from the spinning machines and this was so loud that the only way to communicate was by hand signals.

As a result of the noise levels in her employment, Ms X now suffers from Noise Induced Hearing Loss.

The claim was settled by Lee Carnall of Irwin Mitchell’s specialist Industrial Disease Team in July 2008.

He said, "A person who was exposed to excessive levels of noise 30-40 years ago may only now notice a hearing loss. This is because even though the hearing was damaged at the time of the exposure to excessive noise, it may only be with the onset of presbycusis (hearing loss due to ageing) that a person may start to notice a hearing loss.

"Therefore just because a person was exposed to noise a long time ago does not stop them from being able to make a claim for industrial deafness."