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Head of Online Medical Content
Audiology Expert at Hearing Aid UK
At the time of writing, industrial deafness awareness has been having a moment, as more and more people are recognising the signs and making the link between a loss and their existing or past work environment.
Many people in the UK are suffering from some form of industrial deafness, which is also called occupational deafness and more commonly noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).
You can also claim if you have tinnitus as a result of negligence. This could be in result of working in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, power stations and other roles that are exposed to long periods of loud noise levels.
You might be one of these people who have hearing problems due to excessive noise exposure in the workforce, and you might be looking at claiming compensation. In this article, I will briefly be talking about what the general process is for claiming and how such a claim is calculated.
It is important to understand that I will be generalising here, but this content’s sole purpose is to give you a rough idea of the steps you will need to take in the UK.
Here we break down the industrial deafness claim process in the UK. Let’s start with the main areas of the industrial deafness claiming process. These are:
There is a plethora of information you can now access online to research and find a solicitor who specialises in industrial deafness claims. They will assist you in the legal process, give you expert advice on hearing loss compensation claims and construct your case and assist in filing an industrial deafness claim form.
Industrial deafness can take years to develop symptoms after the initial damage is caused. In my experience, several patients have thought that their hearing loss was due to ageing instead of noise-induced damage from their line of work.
You will need to arrange a hearing test with your local hearing healthcare provider to confirm your loss after you have spoken to your solicitor about your claim and you have had it confirmed.
Once your hearing care professional has diagnosed industrial deafness due to work-related noise exposure, the next step is to indicate who is at fault and what caused the hearing loss. For instance, exactly why you were exposed to said noise for a long period. Examples of this could be poor or no ear protection or a complete lack of or limited training from your employer.
So, who pays for industrial deafness claims? The final step is to indicate who is at fault regarding hearing damage and, therefore, who is liable for the claim. At the end of the day, it’s all about proving and providing evidence of who caused the loss.
For instance, are you able to provide solid evidence that your employer was negligent, as they by law have a duty of care? Your employer must do everything in their power to give their employees a safe working environment and that they are protected against harmful levels of noise.
If the employer fails to comply with legal duties and you can prove this is the case, then you can claim compensation for your industrial deafness.
Calculating your compensation, if you are successful and entitled to claim, is rather complex as there are many variants to consider. These are how severe your hearing loss is, whether it is permanent or not, whether it is in one ear or both and how long you worked or have worked in a damaging environment.
Other additional factors might be how the loss has affected your quality of life and mental health, your ability to work and whether financially it has made a negative impact regarding seeking treatment. Each case is different and unique from the next and depends on your circumstance alone - however here are some estimates for your reference.
Wondering what the industrial deafness claim amounts are? Here are the average claims for industrial deafness in the UK:
Like I said earlier, we know that naturally, your hearing worsens over time and that sometimes noise induced hearing loss is mistaken for age-related. However, there are a few distinct signs of noise induced hearing loss, such as:
Like with most forms of claims, there are law firms that specialise in industrial deafness compensation and some also work on a no win, no fee basis. It is always worth researching to find the right representative for your case.
Alternatively, there is also industrial deafness government compensation. You can also claim with the government and fill out an industrial deafness claim form called Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for occupational deafness (IIDB), which also includes a step-by-step guide on how to process this online.
This form of hearing loss is permanent and the most popular form of treatment for this is digital hearing aids. There is a hearing solution available for all hearing loss levels, lifestyles and budgets on the market today.
If you think you have noise-induced hearing loss or have completed a successful compensation claim, we can put you in touch with your local audiologist who can support, monitor and take care of your hearing healthcare going forward.
If you've suffered hearing loss due to prolonged exposure to workplace noise, you may be eligible for compensation. To make a claim, you'll need a medical diagnosis, evidence of noise exposure, and legal advice.
A specialist solicitor can help you gather evidence, file a claim, and navigate the legal process. It's important to act promptly, as there are time limits for making a claim.
To find out more about how we can help you and your hearing or if you just need advice - call us free on 0800 567 7621
Do not spend hundreds of pounds without getting a second opinion from us.
If you are looking at this page then it is likely that an audiologist has suggested that you purchase this particular hearing aid, so is this the best model for you?
In general, any audiologist will always be recommending to you the model that best suits your needs. Here is a useful check list to make sure that is the case.
If in doubt, feel free to give us a call. That's what we're here for.
If you have a significant hearing loss in both ears, you should be wearing two hearing aids. Here are the audiological reasons why:
Localisation. The brain decodes information from both ears and compares and contrasts them. By analysing the miniscule time delays as well as the difference in loudness of each sound reaching the ears, the person is able to accurately locate a sound source. Simply put, if you have better hearing on one side than the other, you can't accurately tell what direction sounds are coming from.
Less amplification required. A phenomena known as “binaural summation” means that the hearing aids can be set at a lower and more natural volume setting than than if you wore only one hearing aid.
Head shadow effect. High frequencies, the part of your hearing that gives clarity and meaning to speech sounds, cannot bend around your head. Only low frequencies can. Therefore if someone is talking on your unaided side you are likely to hear that they are speaking, but be unable to tell what they have said.
Noise reduction. The brain has it’s own built in noise reduction which is only really effective when it is receiving information from both ears. If only one ear is aided, even with the best hearing aid in the world, it will be difficult for you to hear in background noise as your brain is trying to retain all of the sounds (including background noise) rather than filtering it out.
Sound quality. We are designed to hear in stereo. Only hearing from one side sounds a lot less natural to us.
For most people, the main benefit of a rechargeable hearing aid is simple convenience. We are used to plugging in our phones and other devices overnight for them to charge up.
For anybody with poor dexterity or issues with their fingers, having a rechargeable aid makes a huge difference as normal hearing aid batteries are quite small and some people find them fiddly to change.
One downside is that if you forget to charge your hearing aid, then it is a problem that can't be instantly fixed. For most a 30 minute charge will get you at least two or three hours of hearing, but if you are the type of person who is likely to forget to plug them in regularly then you're probably better off with standard batteries.
Rechargeable aids are also a little bit bigger and are only available in behind the ear models.
Finally, just like with a mobile phone, the amount of charge you get on day one is not going to be the same as you get a few years down the line. Be sure to ask what the policy is with the manufacturer warranty when it comes to replacing the battery.
For most people, the answer is yes. But it's never that simple.
The majority of hearing problems affect the high frequencies a lot more than the low ones. Therefore open fitting hearing aids sound a lot more natural and ones that block your ears up can make your own voice sound like you are talking with your head in a bucket. Therefore in-ear aids tend to be less natural.
However the true answer is we can't tell until we have had a look in your ears to assess the size of your ear canal, and until we have tested your hearing to see which frequencies are being affected.
People with wider ear canals tend to have more flexibility, also there are open fitting modular CIC hearing aids now that do not block your ears.
There is also the age old rule to consider, that a hearing aid will not help you if it's sat in the drawer gathering dust. If the only hearing aid you would be happy wearing is one that people can't see, then that's what you should get.
Most people can adapt to any type of hearing aid, as long as they know what to expect. Have an honest conversation with your audiologist as to what your needs are.
Generally speaking, six or more. Unless it's none at all.
The number of channels a hearing aid has is often a simplistic way an audiologist will use to explain why one hearing aid is better than another, but channels are complex and it is really not that straightforward.
Hearing aids amplify sounds of different frequencies by different amounts. Most people have lost more high frequencies than low and therefore need more amplification in the high frequencies. The range of sounds you hear are split into frequency bands or channels and the hearing aids are set to provide the right amount of hearing at each frequency level.
Less than six channels and this cannot be done with much accuracy, so six is the magic number. However, a six channel aid is typically very basic with few other features and is suitable only for hearing a single speaker in a quiet room. The number of channels is not what you should be looking at, it's more the rest of the technology that comes with them.
As a final note, different manufacturers have different approaches. One method is not necessarily better than any other. For example some manufacturers have as many as 64 channels in their top aids. Most tend to have between 17 and 20. One manufacturer has no channels at all.
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