NIHL Claims: a Collection of Articles from BC Disease News
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Volume III (June 2020) NIHL Claims: A Collection of Articles from BC Disease News 1 | P a g e NIHL Claims: A Collection of Articles from BC Disease News Volume III CONTENTS PAGE 6 Introduction PAGE 7 Hearing Loss and Anaemia (BCDN Edition 200) PAGE 7 Drill Bit Wear Intensifies Harmful Exposure at Work (BCDN Edition 202) PAGE 8 Feature: The New NIHL Fixed Scheme - Will It Save You Money? (BCDN Edition 202) PAGE 15 Hearing Impairment and Dementia (BCDN Edition 204) PAGE 16 Date of Knowledge in NIHL Claims: Smith v Brentford Nylon Limited, Shegl Realisations Limited & Dunlop Rubber Company Limited (BCDN Edition 207) PAGE 17 A Third of Over 65’s May Have Age Related Hearing Loss (BCDN Edition 209) PAGE 18 Report Finds Aircraft Noise Levels in the US are Within Allowable Limits (BCDN Edition 209) PAGE 19 Hearing Organisations Call for Policy-Makers To Help Raise Awareness Of The Effects Of Hearing Loss (BCDN Edition 212) 2 | P a g e PAGE 20 Survey Investigates Effects of Hearing Loss on Older British Workers (BCDN Edition 212) PAGE 21 Survey Investigates Effects of Hearing Loss on Older British Workers (BCDN Edition 212) PAGE 22 Public Transport Noise Levels Enough to Cause Hearing Damage (BCDN Edition 215) PAGE 27 Feature: De Minimis and The LCB Guidelines – An Update (BCDN Edition 216) PAGE 30 Hearing Loss on the London Underground (BCDN Edition 217) PAGE 30 Hearing Loss in American Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting Sectors (BCDN Edition 221) PAGE 33 Section 33 Discretion in NIHL Claims: Carr v Panel Products Limited [2018] EWCA Civ 190 (BCDN Edition 222) PAGE 37 Link Between Syphilis and Hearing Loss? (BCDN Edition 223) PAGE 38 Acoustic Shock: Goldscheider v the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation [2018] EWHC 687 (QB) (BCDN Edition 225) PAGE 39 Smokers at Increased Risk of Hearing Loss at 4 kHz (BCDN Edition 225) PAGE 40 Feature: Acoustic Shock: An Update (BCDN Edition 226) PAGE 51 Feature: Future Hearing Assistance Claims: The McShefferty Papers (BCDN Edition 233) PAGE 56 Great Ormond Street Hearing Loss Prevention Drug Trials (BCDN Edition 235) PAGE 56 Feature: Hearing Testing Methods Additional to Pure Tone Audiometry (Part 1) (BCDN Edition 235) PAGE 65 Feature: Hearing Testing Methods Additional to Pure Tone Audiometry (Part 2) (BCDN Edition 236) PAGE 73 Feature: Reliability of CERA and PTA Testing: Sumner v Turtle Wax Limited (Liverpool County Court, 2018) (BCDN Edition 237) 3 | P a g e PAGE 77 Hearing Loss Onset 25 Years Post-Noise Exposure: Harte v Hawker Siddeley Dynamics Ltd & 2 Ors (Wigan County Court, 2018) (BCDN Edition 240) PAGE 79 Feature: A Review of De Minimis in NIHL Claims Post-Dryden: Nicholls v Osram Ltd & Anor (Newcastle County Court, 2018) (BCDN Edition 241) PAGE 85 Feature: Maximum Bulging at 2 kHz: Callaghan v Imperial Chemical Industries Limited & Anor (2018, Middlesbrough County Court) (BCDN Edition 243) PAGE 91 Feature: Investigations in Disease Claims: Feature 1 – NIHL Claims (BCDN Edition 244) PAGE 101 Using 6 kHz as an Anchor Point: Percy v Northern Gas Networks & 2 Ors. (Newcastle County Court, 15 June 2018) (BCDN Edition 245) PAGE 104 Double Compensation and an Application for Strike Out and QOCS Disapplication: Smith v Baird Clothing Menswear Limited & Ors (2018) (BCDN Edition 245) PAGE 105 12% Increase in Canadian Worker NIHL Cases as Hearing Protection Uptake Increases (BCDN Edition 245) PAGE 106 How Do Cognitive and Auditory Factors Affect the Perception of Speech in Background Noise? (BCDN Edition 248) PAGE 108 More De Minimis Success in NIHL Claims: Wiseman v Overhead Doors (GB) Limited (2018) (BCDN Edition 249) PAGE 111 Royal Opera House Granted Permission to Appeal ‘Acoustic Shock’ Ruling (BCDN Edition 253) PAGE 112 Slater and Gordon to Dispense with its NIHL Team Before 2020 (BCDN Edition 254) PAGE 112 Researchers Identify ‘Essential’ Hearing Loss Gene (BCDN Edition 254) PAGE 114 Feature: Second Audiograms Underscore Reliability: Pandya v Walkers Crisps Ltd & Anor (Leicester County Court, 2018) (BCDN Edition 257) PAGE 120 Feature: More Success with De Minimis NIHL Defence: Fotherby v Quibell And Sons Limited & 2 Ors (Sheffield County Court, 2018) (BCDN Edition 258) PAGE 126 County Court Jurisdiction in Sea-Based Disease Claims: Meeks v BP Shipping and Fyffes (Unreported, 2018) (BCDN Edition 259) 4 | P a g e PAGE 130 Feature: Establishing Breach of Duty in NIHL Claims – ‘Peripatetic’ Noise Exposure and Absent Noise Surveys: Mackenzie v Alcoa Manufacturing (GB) Ltd [2019] EWHC 149 (QB (BCDN Edition 261) PAGE 137 £1.3 Million Military Deafness Claim Listed for High Court Trial in March (BCDN Edition 262) PAGE 139 Royal Marine Reaches Agreement with MoD Over £1.3 Million Deafness Claim (BCDN Edition 265) PAGE 140 Feature: Fundamental Dishonesty Under Section 57 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015: A Matter for Trial or Interlocutory Application? (BCDN Edition 265) PAGE 142 US Military Invests in Drug to Inhibit NIHL Onset (BCDN Edition 266) PAGE 144 Court of Appeal Judgment Reserved in Acoustic Shock Appeal (BCDN Edition 268) PAGE 146 NIHL Claimant May Face Committal Proceedings for ‘Lying’ (BCDN Edition 270) PAGE 147 £550,000 Quantum Ruling in Military Deafness Case: Inglis v Ministry of Defence [2019] EWHC 1153 (QB) (BCDN Edition 273) PAGE 151 Insurer Edges Closer Towards Committal Proceedings Against Dishonest NIHL Claimant: Zurich Insurance Plc v Romaine [2019] EWCA Civ 851 (BCDN Edition 275) PAGE 154 How Accurate Are ‘Speech Communication Method’-Generated Noise Levels? (BCDN Edition 280) PAGE 156 Upcoming Interlocutory Hearing to Consider Strike Out of NIHL Claims Handled by Heptonstalls Solicitors for Payment of Incorrect Court Fee (BCDN Edition 283) PAGE 158 A Barrister’s Comment on the Issue of Whether Service of Particulars of Claim Always Requires Concurrent Service of a Medical Report? (BCDN Edition 285) PAGE 164 NIHL Claims NOT Struck Out, as Heptonstalls Court Fee Saga is Resolved at ‘Show Cause’ Hearing (BCDN Edition 291) PAGE 167 Study on the Impact of Tinnitus on Professional Musicians to Begin in December 2019 (BCDN Edition 291) PAGE 170 London Underground Suspend Industrial Action, as TfL Promise to Take Action on ‘Complex’ Tube Noise Issue (BCDN Edition 292) PAGE 173 Feature: Why is Tinnitus Playing an Ever-Dominant Role in ‘Common Whiplash’ Claims? (BCDN Edition 293) 5 | P a g e PAGE 178 Feature: Allegations of Historic Noise Exposure Devoid of Noise Surveys: Mackenzie v Alcoa Manufacturing (Gb) Ltd [2019] EWCA Civ 2110 (BCDN Edition 299) Introduction BC Disease News has covered a wide range of issues that arise in hearing loss claims. This reference guide collates all of our articles into one collection, across four volumes (1 volume for every 100 BC Disease News Editions), with the aim of making the information more accessible and practically beneficial. Any comments or feedback can be sent to Boris Cetnik or Charlotte Owen. As always, warmest regards to all. 6 | P a g e Hearing Loss and Anaemia (BCDN Edition 200) Earlier this year, a study by Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine published in the JAMA Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery journal found a positive association between hearing loss and anaemia. One reason for hypothesising an association is that ‘blood supply to the inner ear via the labyrinthine artery is sensitive to ischemic damage (damage caused by reduced blood flow)’. Another, is that ‘Reduced iron in the body causes the breakdown of lipid saturase and desaturase, both of which are important in energy production and, consequently, the production of myelin’, which coats the auditory nerve and is important for the efficient conduction of signals along its fibres.1 The author of the study, Kathleen M. Schieffer, stated that: ‘… iron deficiency anaemia was positively associated with sensorineural hearing loss and the presence of combined hearing loss’. ‘The overall risk for sensorineural hearing loss in persons with iron deficiency anaemia was 82% higher than for someone without the blood condition and the risk of a mixed hearing loss … was 240% higher than for people without iron deficiency anemia’.2 Although a positive association was found, the author professes that: ‘Further research is needed to better understand the potential links between IDA [iron deficiency anaemia] and hearing loss and whether screening and treatment of IDA in adults could have clinical implications in patients with hearing loss’.3 Drill Bit Wear Intensifies Harmful Exposure at Work (BCDN Edition 202) Advice from the Center for Construction Research and Training (CWPR) suggests that exposure to noise, silica and vibration, as a consequence of work-related hammer drill usage, can be significantly reduced by replacing components on a more regular basis.4 Using a specially designed test bench, researchers at the University of California were able to investigate the effect of carbide-tipped drill bit wear on drilling efficiency, while drilling through rock.5 It was hypothesised that inefficiency would lead to longer periods of harmful exposure. The results of the investigation, published in the Annals of Work Exposures and Health, are displayed in the tables below: 1 Tim Newman, ‘Anemia and hearing loss: Is there a link?’ (4 January 2017 Medical News Today) <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/315017.php> accessed 13 September 2017. 2 ‘Link between hearing loss and iron deficiency anemia’ (29 August 2017) <http://www.hear-it.org/link-between-hearing-loss- and-iron-deficiency-anemia> accessed 13 September 2017. 3 Schieffer KM et al., ‘Association of Iron Deficiency Anemia With Hearing Loss in US Adults. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2017;143(4):350–354. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2016.3631 <http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaotolaryngology/article- abstract/2594264> accessed 13 September 2017. 4 ‘Sharp drill bits decrease hazardous exposures during concrete drilling, researchers say’ (12 September 2017 Safety + Health) http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/16126-sharp-drill-bits-decrease-health-risks-study> accessed 26 September 2017.