Are medical exemptions possible from a need to wear hearing protection?
Key points on medical exemptions from the use of hearing protection
The HSE are very clear in L1018, Controlling Noise at Work (Third Edition) that there there are no medical exemptions from a requirement to wear hearing protection if there is a high noise risk.
This duty cannot be over-ruled by a G.P. or H.R.
Only the HSE themselves can grant exemptions which need to be in writing, are time-limited, and have to be issued to a company directly, not generally across the workforce. They rarely do this and will only apply it where the hearing protection could introduce a significantly larger risk.
Hearing protection use arises where a noise assessment has confirmed there is a noise risk in the workplace, and there is an important issue with excess noise which is probably worth highlighting here.
If you have a risk assessment which says there is a chance of tripping over a pipe or something then someone may indeed trip and be injured, while someone else may work there for 40 years and never have an issue. With noise however, if there is excess noise then people in there regularly over time will have an issue, the only question is how much of an issue, but everyone will have their hearing damaged to one extent or another.
In most areas of safety there is a question of whether someone will be impacted whereas in noise the question is how much of an impact it will be as it is a given that there will be some damage.
This is important when the issue of medical exemptions from the need to wear hearing protection comes up.
Types of claimed exemption from the need to wear hearing protection
These are many and varied, may come with a doctor or G.P. giving some kind of written exemption, or may be self-claimed:
Ear plugs hurt my ear canals.
Ear muffs give me headaches.
I get anxious in workplaces and need to be able to use my music headphones to control it.
My hearing is poor already.
And 1001 one other reasons.
Can any medical exemptions be used to avoid wearing hearing protection?
The simple answer is no.
It doesn’t matter if a GP is issuing a note giving an exemption (they don’t have that power or authority) or if it is someone stating it themselves, there are no exemptions.
Extract from L108: Medical conditions do not exempt workers from wearing hearing protection
The issue is that if someone claims they cannot wear hearing protection as it hurts their ears, or if a GP has issued a note exempting them, and they work in a high noise area, then their hearing will be damage by noise. This is a certainty, that’s the issue with noise, the chance of damage is 100%, the only variable is by how much.
So, if someone works in a high noise area without hearing protection, their hearing will be damaged, and the employer will then be liable for that.
An employer cannot knowingly allow someone to work knowing they are going to be injured by that work, so they cannot knowingly allow someone to work in a high noise area while not wearing hearing protection.
If there is a medical reason for not wearing hearing protection then unfortunately that person cannot work in a high noise area. If there are no jobs available in an area with no noise risk then they cannot work for that employer. It is harsh but that’s the final outcome - they are medically unfit for the job.
The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 do say the HSE can issue exemptions
The Noise Regs do indeed include this, but these can only be issued by the HSE, on a case by case basis, about specific individuals, in specific jobs in a specific company, and are time limited.
They are not generic applying to a type of job done anywhere and do not apply to cases where people have or claim a medical issue, they only apply where the use of hearing protection could cause a bigger risk.
The only example I can think of I have seen where this applied in 30 years of noise safety work is bin men working on live roads - the recycling collection is over 85 dB(A) but hearing protection makes them far less aware of their surroundings and more likely to get hit by a car. The hearing protection therefore introduces a much bigger risk and this is the only time exemptions could be given. Even here, the employer needs to get any exemption in writing from the HSE, they can’t just decide to apply it.
Before any forklift drivers jump on that as a reason to not wear hearing protection, no, that doesn’t apply to forklift drivers, nice try.
Related post
You may also like to look at the page on disclaimers - where an employee says they will sign a disclaimer saying they accept the risk of hearing damage and do not therefore need to wear hearing protection.
FAQ: Exemptions from the use of hearing protection
A G.P. gave me a letter saying I don’t have to use hearing protection at work, that must be good enough?
No, a G.P. does not have the authority to overrule what is a basic duty - that an employer cannot allow someone to work knowing they are at risk. If someone comes in with a letter from a G.P. saying they cannot wear hearing protection what that effectively means is it is a letter saying they cannot do their job. The outcome of that may not be what the employee wants.
You say bin men working on a road may get an exemption from the use of hearing protection, so why not a forklift driver?
They are very different situations:
The bin men are on a live road which may be very busy. They are on foot, not in the vehicles controlling their speed or where they go. A good proportion of the public are going to be distracted by anything from a whining child in the back to just being tired and may not be watching where they are going - there is not a lot the bin men can do about that so hearing cars coming is important.
A forklift driver is the opposite - they are in charge of their vehicle and can control where it goes and when it goes there. They know if pedestrians may be around and can look out for them.
With a forklift the person creating the main risk is in control of it. With the bin men the bin men have little control over the wider risk.
More information and help on hearing protection at work
