Employers fail hearing safety

Scottish employers are failing to heed the threat of industrial deafness, according to a Glasgow lawyer who has reported an “alarming spike” in cases.

Lawyers at Irwin Mitchell Scotland, which handles scores of cases involving people made deaf or suffering from Tinnitus, as a result of their working environment, have seen an increase in new industrial deafness cases.

Elaine Russell, workplace injury and illness specialist, said industrial employers were lagging behind in hearing safety and that cases had flooded in involving people working in shipyards, construction, factories and the printing industry.