Mr C wins £3000 payout after suffering Noise Induced Hearing Loss arising from his employment with Joseph Lucas Ltd from 1965 to 1971as a Design and Development Engineer.  His role involved the design and develop of transmissions for hydraulic JCBs.  The designs were placed on a test rig and analysed by being run with electric pumps however the development project was abandoned due to the failure to reduce the noise produced. 

During the period of employment only 1 set of earmuffs were provided.  These hese had glycerine ear pad which split when they came into contact with hydraulic oil causing the earmuffs to be rendered useless.  This happened to all employees in this section and despite a request for replacement none were ever provided.  The noise was very loud and Mr C was not able to  hear a man stood beside him.  If he needed to speak to a colleague that would have to put heads very close together and shout or leave the room.  This indicates that they noise levels were over 90db(A).

This case was complicated as Mr C suffered an accident in 1968 causing significant injury to one ear, requiring him to wear a hearing aid.  He attended regularly for check ups and was advised in December 2007 during one of these check ups that there was an element of noise damage to his hearing.  He had never been informed of this before and was surprised as he had always assumed his hearing loss was entirely caused by the incident in 1968.

He saw we solicitors advert in the local press in November 2008 and decided he would take advantage of the offer of a free hearing test.  His hearing loss was then confirmed and his claim presented to the insurers of Joseph Lucas Ltd