Posted By Gerry Phairs Due to restructuring we are having to move 2 deaf people, they have both requested to be relocated in the press shop area which is a cat 2 noise zone (there is other work available although at a lesser rate). Has anyone been involved in a similar situation. Although these people are deaf I am assumming working in a noise zone could further damage their hearing. Any advice would be appreciated. Gerry

Posted By Adam Jackson Mark's right. You should ensure they are given protection via the usual heirarchy and the duty to protect their hearing is particularly key as the effect of any slight hearing loss could be worse for them than for someone with 'normal' hearing.

Posted By Mark Talbot Jack, you are right about the problems it could cause with other workers. Without going cover to cover on the Regs, I can't remember any exceptions being granted to the obligations of the employer of deaf people (nor blind people being excluded from DSE eye tests - law is not written that way). A little bell is ringing in the back of the mind that enforcement has been made of an obligation that was irrelevant (sorry too vague, I know, but something niggles). So it would be wise to consult with your enforcement officer to get their opinion too (saves suprises during a visit).

Posted By Clare Hazlewood You may need to seek advice from each deaf individual's audiologist on this issue. When a deaf person wears hearing aids or a cochlear implant to make use of their residual hearing, then the amplification will not be uniform across the range of sound frequencies. Most hearing aids (if I remember rightly) boost mid-range frequencies much more than high frequencies. The perceived sound levels will be very different to those experienced by non hearing-impaired person. As mum to a deaf child, I have listened to everyday noises through a hearing aid (using an attenuator to protect my own hearing) and found that noises such as chairs scraping on floors, tapping and clunking noises seem louder relative to speech sounds. I would imagine that machinery noise would be similarly prominent and unpleasant. As a consequence, a hearing aid/implant user may require more/less attenuation at different frequencies compared with a normally-hearing person. An audiologist would be able to indicate which frequencies the deaf person was most sensitive to with and without their hearing aids. For users of digital hearing aids and cochlear implants, the audiologist might be able to create settings specifically for noisy environments. If additional PPE is advised, then once the most suitable attenuation requirements have been determined, you would have to consider appropriate fitting of the hearing protection. Ear plugs are no use to the aided ear, since sounds are picked up by a microphone. Ear muffs would need to be large enough to accomodate the hearing aid, and not create extra noise by rubbing on the microphone. Where a cochlear implant and speech processor are used, the earmuffs should not put excessive pressure on the implant site. When a hearing-impaired person who normally uses hearing aids/cochlear implant is in a noisy environment (even below action levels), they may effectively become more deaf than in a good listening environment, and so will need to rely more on visual signs, signals and lipreading. Colleagues may need deaf-awareness advice and training so as to communicate effectively. Clare Hazlewood

Posted By David P. Johnson This would be a DDA issue. You need to provide them with PPE - failing to do so because of a disability would be a breach, even in spite of the potential idiocy of the situation. David

Posted By Jim Walker David, wearing the PPE is NOT idiocy - you are assuming people are deaf across the whole hearing spectrum, this is very rarely the case.

Posted By Clare Hazlewood David, Very few deaf people are "completely deaf". Most have some residual hearing. For those who chose to use it, via hearing aids or implants, preserving that residual hearing is very, very important. The individual's audiologist would be able to advise on how best to protect their residual hearing in a noisy environment. In some cases, the solution might be simply to switch off the aid, but this is not necessarily the case for every deaf person. Clare Hazlewood