Pottery Worker With Hearing Loss Awarded Compensation

June 19, 2012 - PRLog -- Lawyers successfully argued that his hearing loss was caused as a result of working in an excessively noisy environment without sufficient ear protection.

Following a court ruling in 2009, workers can claim compensation if it can be proven that they were exposed to more than 80 decibels of noise at work on a regular basis.

Adrian said: “I worked for 20 years for John Tams and it was very noisy.

“In the old-fashioned factories a siren would go off on the kiln and the sound was deafening. You could hardly hear yourself think and we were never offered earplugs.

“If people are talking but not facing me, I find it very difficult to hear and it can be dangerous at work.”

One of Stoke-on-Trent’s largest ceramic cup producers; John Tams Group operated a number of pottery factories across the city, including the Royal Grafton Works, Atlas, Sutherland and Monarch.

At its height, the pottery industry employed around 70,000 people in North Staffordshire and Burslem-based Attwood Solicitors have already taken on more than 1,000 cases.

John Farrow from Attwood Solicitors said: “We are close to recovering a total of £1 million in damages for hearing loss clients.”

In 2005 the Noise at Work Regulations Act was passed. This act helps ensure workers are protected from excessive noise at work. However, according to a report by the RNID and TUC, employers are “doing little” to protect their employees hearing. Under the regulations, employers can be prosecuted if they fail to protect employees’ hearing, if they are exposed to noise above 85db.

Other workers who may suffer Work Related Hearing Loss include Pub and Club workers, Ship Builders and Call Centre Workers.