§ Mr. Michael McNair-Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what recommendations he has received from the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council with regard to the prescription of occupational deafness; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Sir K. JosephThe council's report on occupational deafness has today been published as a Command Paper (Cmnd. 5461). As the report points out, this is a condition which gives rise to special difficulty in relation to the Industrial Injuries Scheme and I should like to record my thanks to the council for the very careful and practical manner in which the many problems involved have been considered.
The main conclusions and recommendations of the council are as follows:
- (1) noise-induced deafness at a substantial level can satisfy the conditions for prescription laid down by Section 56(2) of the National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) Act 1965, and an initial scheme for the award of disablement benefit under the Act should be introduced as soon as the details can be worked out;
- (2) the availability of appropriate technical and medical facilities is essential for diagnosis and assessment of the disease;
4 - (3) in order to prevent undue pressure on existing audiological services, which could have adverse effects on resources required for treatment, the intital scheme must necessarily be a restricted one, the chief restrictions being—
- (a) prescription to be limited initially to drop forging and to the use of pneumatic tools in the metal manufacturing and the shipbuilding and repairing industries, which according to the available evidence are processes which produce the highest noise levels,
- (b) a minimum of 20 years' employment to be required in the prescribed occupations, and
- (c) claims to be made within one year of leaving the employment;
- (4) the council recommends that the initial scheme should be extended by stages to other noisy industries and processes.
I accept the council's recommendation for the introduction of a limited scheme for the prescription of occupational deafness. Although a limited start is essential if treatment services are to be maintained and expanded as we intend, the proposed compensation scheme will nevertheless represent a new and major step forward in the Industrial Injuries field. The detailed proposals made in the report are being studied and it is not at this stage possible to indicate the precise form or timing of the scheme.