Hearing clearly: Judge rules compensation payable even when legal noise limit not exceeded

Findings indicate prolonged exposure to lower noise levels may cause substantial damage

A recent court judgement looks likely to have a big impact on the claims of thousands of people in England and Wales who suffer from work-related hearing loss caused by exposure to high noise levels.  The case, which involved an employee in the knitting industry of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, looks likely to have implications for those people unfortunate enough to have suffered hearing loss working in an environment where noise levels were just below the 90dB legal limit for wearing ear protection.

Hearing loss/deafness compensation

In this particular case, a woman employed by a knitting company in Nottingham had suffered hearing loss from working for many years in an environment where the noise level was between 80dB and 90dB.  Although she had been issued with ear defenders by her employer in 1989, she had worked for the previous 18 years without any hearing protection.  The employee brought a claim against her former employer for hearing loss compensation.

At the first case, this claim was dismissed as although the court found that the woman had indeed suffered from noise-related hearing loss, the judge said that her employer had not breached its duty of care under common law or under the 1961 Factories Act.  The employee decided to appeal against this verdict, arguing that her employer should have provided her with ear protection at some time prior to 1989, as she had regularly been exposed to noise levels above 85dB during that time.

In this appeal the judge found that noise at a level below 90dB can cause damage to hearing in a percentage of the population.  This finding was based on research conducted in the early 1970’s, so it would have been known about by experts during the time in which the claimant’s hearing loss occurred.  Going further, the judge found that by about 1976, there was a workable mathematical formula that could be used by the woman’s employer, or an acoustic engineer that they hired, to determine the risk to employee’s hearing from levels below the 90dB limit.

Effect on personal injury claims

What does this mean for personal injury claims?  Well, basically the judge in this particular case has found that although there was a clearly defined legal limit at which action to protect and employee’s hearing from damage should be taken, at noise levels slightly under this limit there was still a moderate chance of noise-related hearing loss occurring.  The woman in this particular case was awarded over £3,000 for her hearing loss, and with hundreds of people now likely to seek legal advice about making a claim, a significant amount of money could be involved.

Camps Solicitors closely follow developments in personal injury law, such as this noise related hearing-loss claim.  For more information on a wide variety of personal injury claims including work related accidents.

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