Being able to hear correctly is crucial, and hearing loss can have a major impact on a person’s ability to perform work, as well as their daily life. As with other types of injuries, a person who suffers from work-related hearing loss may be able to receive benefits through workers’ compensation. In these situations, a person will need to understand when they will qualify for workers’ comp and the types of benefits they will be able to receive.
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in the Workplace
Workers’ compensation benefits are available to those who suffered injuries or illnesses due to accidents in the workplace or because of the work they performed. In many cases, workers may suffer hearing loss because they are regularly exposed to loud noises while working. These issues may affect people who work around heavy equipment and machinery or in other noisy environments, including construction workers, factory workers, warehouse workers, agricultural workers, workers in the oil and gas industry, and those who are exposed to explosions or gunfire.
Noise-induced hearing loss often involves damage to the hair cells in the inner ear that process sound vibrations and turn them into signals that are sent to the brain. When these cells are damaged, they will not grow back, and a person’s hearing will be permanently affected. The symptoms of this type of hearing loss may include difficulty hearing high-frequency sounds or understanding speech. A person may also experience pain in their ears or suffer from tinnitus, which involves ringing or whooshing sensations in the ears that make it difficult to hear other sounds.
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