Title: Noise and the worker
First published: 1963
Description: In 1963 the Ministry of Works issued a pamphlet entitled Noise and the Worker,
revised in 1969 by the Department of Employment and Productivity. The guide recommended
that workers regularly exposed to noise, of any frequency, of greater than 85dB for 8 hours a
day should be protected [Deafness Research]. This pamphlet was pivotal in the case law
Thompson v Smith Ship Repairers (1984). A group of ship workers were awarded damages for
exposure to noise at work. The claimants had asked for and received hearing protection in 1973
but received damages for the hearing loss that occurred between 1963 and 1973, the period
that employers should have been aware of the risks of damage to hearing referred to in the
1963 pamphlet [Stewart Dunn].