Maintenance Fitter Wins £4,000 for Hearing Loss

A man from Grimsby has won compensation of £4,000 after his hearing was damaged by exposure to excessive noise in the workplace.

From 1979 until 2005, the man was employed as a maintenance fitter by a company which manufactured pigments. During this time he was exposed to high levels of noise from equipment in use at his place of work, including heavy plant machinery, overhead cranes and JCBs.

Despite the risks of hearing damage posed by such equipment, his employer did not provide hearing protection until the early 1990s, and its use was not made compulsory until a few years later. There was also no evidence that employees had been warned of the risks of working in a noisy environment.

The man brought a claim against his former employer. A medical assessment arranged by his solicitors confirmed that he was suffering from mild noise-induced hearing loss. His former employer agreed to settle his claim out of court for £4,000.

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