Occupational Illness

Sonic Shock and Telecoms Deafness

Workers in large call centres can sometimes be exposed to ‘sonic shock’ via their telephone headsets. Sonic shock (which is sometimes called acoustic shock) is caused by short, sharp bursts of high frequency audio sounds through telephone headsets.

It is a problem which has plagued the call centre industry for several years and something which they have failed to eradicate.

The workers – who are often young, vulnerable people in their first job – can develop hearing loss and tinnitus as a result of such exposure. Tinnitus is characterised by ringing or buzzing noises in your ears and is in fact more common than actual hearing loss as a result of sonic shock.

A claim for compensation can be made against the employer in such circumstances. In addition to claiming compensation for the hearing loss and/or tinnitus we may also be able to claim for the cost of providing you with hearing aids in the future.

 

Telecoms Engineers Deafness

Have you worked for BT and used tone sets to pair out tones when installing or maintaining domestic or commercial telephone lines?

BT has admitted liability in numerous cases and accepted that they have failed in their legal duty to protect their engineers from being exposed to the excessive levels of noise caused by the use of tone sets.

If you are suffering from any of the following symptoms you may have a potential claim:

 

• Difficulty hearing normal conversation or following conversation in a group of people
• Difficulty hearing the telephone,TV or radio.
• Ringing or buzzing noises in your ears.

In addition to claiming compensation for your hearing problems we may also be able to claim for the cost of providing you with hearing aids in the future.

 

 

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