Winning a hearing loss claim tends to be a little more difficult than an acute injury that can be more easily understood and linked to your job duties. For example, if you fall off a ladder and break your leg at work, it will be pretty obvious that you should be eligible for compensation. With hearing loss, especially one that develops gradually over time, the insurance company may be reluctant to agree that it was your work duties that contributed to this hearing damage. After all, some hearing loss is typical as you get older, and whose to say that the damage isn’t from an event that occurred off the clock?
If you’re hoping to win a hearing loss injury claim, it’s important that you put together a very strong case. In today’s blog, we showcase some of the ways that we help clients develop a strong hearing loss claim.
Proving Hearing Loss In The Workplace
If you’re wondering if you are eligible for workers’ compensation or you’ve decided to move forward with a hearing loss claim, here are some ways you can strengthen your claim and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that your work duties caused your hearing loss:
Hire A Lawyer – As we noted in the introduction, hearing loss cases are hard to win when you have a lawyer by your side, but they are next to impossible to win if you try to earn compensation on your own. A lawyer has the tools and the expertise to collect the right evidence and put it together into a clear and concise claim. If you want to win a hearing loss claim, you’ll want to have a lawyer by your side.
Trusted Medical Examination – You’ll only be eligible for hearing loss compensation if a medical professional confirms that you are suffering from hearing loss. Contact your primary care physician or connect with your lawyer to learn which doctor you should visit for an Independent Medical Exam to establish the existence of hearing loss.Your doctor will not only work to confirm hearing loss, but they’ll also ask you questions about your job to provide an opinion as to whether any injuries are tied to your work duties.
Noise Surveys – Your lawyer may conduct a noise survey at your place of work. These noise surveys use devices that register and record noise levels to determine how regularly noise reaches levels that could be harmful to a person’s hearing.
Noise Prevention Measures – Your lawyer will also work to establish an understanding of what your employer is doing to keep employees safe from loud noises in the workplace. Are ear plugs or noise buffers mandatory, or are they rarely worn? Lack of preventative measures may help prove your claim.
Job Duties And Duration – Your lawyer will also sit down with you and talk more about your job duties and the normal duration of noise exposure you may experience on your shift. Are sound levels only problematic when you perform certain tasks, or is excessive sound exposure a daily occurrence? We want to learn more about a day in the life at your job so that we can paint a clear picture as to how often you are exposed to unsafe levels of noise.
Witnesses – If you have any co-workers that can speak to the sound exposure on the job, they may prove a valuable asset in your hearing loss claim.
We’ll take all this information and establish a clear link between your work duties and your hearing loss. We’ll also prepare to counter any arguments made by the insurance company in the event they deny your initial claim, which can be quite common. We won’t stop until we’ve helped you get the compensation you deserve.
You’ve put your health on the line at your job and your hearing has suffered because of it. Let us help get you compensation for this temporary or permanent hearing loss. For more information on how we can help prove a hearing loss claim, or for assistance with a different type of injury claim, reach out to the team at Hey Workers today at (844) 439-9675.
