Industry
Mr S was employed by Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK at their Wolverhampton site, from 1961 to 1999.
Exposure to Noise
He was employed as a tyre cureman for the majority of this time, in Department 251D, Building 44. He was exposed to the noise of tyre presses, steam and air leaks, bladder explosions, rolling machines, calendar machines and tyre building machines.
Mr S was not provided with any hearing protection or warnings in relation to the dangers of noise exposure until the 1980’s, when a lot of the damage had already been done.
A medical report arranged for Mr S, confirmed he was suffering from noise induced hearing loss and this was passed to the defendants in support of his claim along with noise surveys obtained from other successful claims against Goodyear. The information confirmed that Mr S worked in noise above the actionable levels of 90dB.
What did we have to establish?
We had to establish the following basic matters:
- Our client did have noise induced hearing loss
- He was employed by the defendants
- He was exposed to excessive levels of noise
- The defendants owed our client a duty of care and were negligent in failing to provide hearing protection, training and supervision.
How did we help?
In order to progress the case we had to:
- Discuss with our client how and where he worked to establish a picture of his exposure to noise.
- Assess the time limits involved in the case
- Arrange for him to undergo a hearing test
- Establish whether the companies still existed and contact the relevant insures notifying of the claim.
- Arrange a medical report
- Correspond with the defendants insurers and advise them of their breach of duty and negligence
- Advise the client on the prospects of the case and discuss how we had valued the claim.
- Negotiate settlement
The Outcome
Eventually we were able to negotiate a settlement of over £4,500 without the need for court proceedings.