Now Hear This When Does a Hearing Loss Result in Workers Comp Benefits

In an interesting case, Zahm v. National Fuel, the court found an employee, who lost her hearing can receive workers’ compensation because she was yelled at by customers.

For 18 years a female employee of National Fuel spent portions of a usual workday on the phone with customers who were angry. Two years following retirement she filed a workers’ comp claim saying she suffered an occupational hearing loss from long-term exposure to noise (screaming customers).

The ex-employee appeared and won in front of a Workers’ Compensation Board — but that ruling was later overturned on appeal from her employer. According to the appeals court, the employee did not spend all eight hours of her work day on the phone exposed to 80 to 90 decibels of noise. The appeals court said her description of the actual noise level was too vague and imprecise to establish that it led to her hearing loss. (workersxzcompxzkit)

As a result, she was not awarded comp benefits. However, if a worker can prove a hearing loss a direct result of job responsibilities workers’ comp benefits would be awarded.

Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers’ Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, manufacturing, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. Contact him: [email protected] or 860-553-6604.

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Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers' comp issues.