Deafness compensation claims and the lifestyle risk

Although there may be little employees can do to protect themselves from employers whose negligent working practices risk the fidelity of their hearing, recent scientific developments show that there may be some lifestyle steps workers can take to guard against this eventuality. Naturally, any such steps taken may also reduce the probability of needing to make a deafness compensation claim.

A new study overseen by scientists working in seven different EU countries, including the UK, has revealed that both smoking and obesity can be important factors in determining an individual's likelihood of developing deafness.

After examining the data of 4,083 participants, scientists said there was a "significant association" between how much someone smoked, how frequently they smoked, and the risk of developing deafness. The also concluded that a person's Body Mass Index (BMI) could be a factor in calculating a statistical risk of developing deafness.

Doctor Eric Fransen who is a doctor of biomedical sciences at University of Antwerp, Belgium, led the research. He commented that it would be a mistake to read too much into its findings, so it is unlikely to be of benefit to any legal team defending a deafness compensation claim. However, he did say that the link between smoking, BMI and deafness could be understood on a linear scale.

Fransen commented, "The hearing loss is proportional to how much you smoke and your BMI. There's a greater increase in risk as BMI increases and smoking increases."

Dr Mark Downs, Royal National Institute for the Deaf's Executive Director of Technology and Enterprise commented on the study, "This exciting new research shows that you're not just harming your heart and lungs when you have a cigarette you could be putting your hearing at risk too.

"With an ageing population age-related hearing loss is something that we need to take seriously. Losing your hearing in later life can make it harder to maintain contact with friends and families and lead to isolation and/or depression so making small concessions now could have an enormous effect in the long term. "Making sure you keep your weight down and generally leading a healthy lifestyle is not only good for your heart but also good for your ears."

However, the researchers behind the paper added that excessive workplace noise was still the "most significant consistently repeated risk factor".

No win, no fee workplace hearing loss lawyers
Suffering deafness as an adult will necessitate major lifestyle adjustments. It can impact working life, family life and social life in a significant way. Making a civil claim for compensation can be an invaluable means of helping affected workers make this transition as difficulty-free as possible.

YouClaim has an expert panel of industrial deafness solicitors who are experienced in representing deafness claims.

They have an excellent success rate and, under the terms of their no win, no fee policy, will never charge you a penny for their services.

Win or lose, you will always have the peace of mind that your claim will not cost you a penny.

In addition, we ensure you are never billed for the opposing side's legal costs and with our 100% compensation promise guarantee that we will never take a cut from any winning award.

Our legal advisors can be reached online or over the telephone. Just fill out an internet claim form or call us now on 0800 10 757 95.

We look forward to assisting your deafness compensation claim to its best possible outcome.