A further advice day is to be held for Cumbrian shipyard workers – as the number of people seeking compensation in the Barrow area passes 100.
And with a clear need for hearing advice being shown by workers in shipbuilding and heavy industry across the UK, industrial deafness compensation experts Attwood Solicitors are planning to extend their campaign across Northern England to the Tyne and Teeside ports.
The next Barrow hearing day will be on Thursday, 1 December, at the Dock Museum. Audiologists will be provided by Attwood Solicitors to give attendees free hearing advice.
Principal Solicitor Ashley Atwood said: “We have been working on cases in the Barrow area for over a year now and, every time we hold a free hearing advice, demand is high.
“The same pattern has emerged at the south coast ports of Plymouth, Portsmouth and Southampton.”
Attwood Solicitor’s now act for around 100 workers in the Barrow area and 500 in England and Wales.
Settlements have now been reached in around 100 cases nationwide with payouts averaging around £5,000.
Any sounds above 80 decibels – about the equivalent of an average alarm clock going off – are considered dangerous but many older people are now suffering from damage caused before current health and safety standards were introduced.
Attwood Solicitor’s work closely with audiologists Hear4U and Dr Grant Charlesworth Jones, a GP who specialises in industrial injury cases.
Dr Charlesworth Jones said: “My work with Attwood Solicitors is raising awareness of a major issue. For many years workers had their hearing damaged because employers failed to provide adequate protection.
“However, people have tended to just put up with hearing loss and put it down to getting older.
“In my experience people are reticent about coming forward – but they should be compensated and the law provides for that.”
Free consultations with an audiologist can be arranged by telephoning Attwood Solicitors on 0800 587 3231 or by going online to www.attwoodsolicitors.co.uk.
ENDS
For further information contact Ashley Attwood on 01782 416016 www.attwoodsolicitors.co.uk.