§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people are currently receiving disablement benefit for occupational deafness.
§ Mr. PrenticePrecise information is not available. It is estimated that there are at present about 4,500 claimants receiving disablement benefit for occupational deafness.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many (a) medical and (b) technical staff were available for the diagnosis and treatment of deafness in hospital ear, nose and throat departments in each year since 1976; and how many specialist centres there are capable of carrying out advanced differential tests for deafness.
§ Mr. PrenticeThe number of medical and technical staff—whole-time equivalents—available for the diagnosis and treatment of deafness in hospital ear, nose and throat departments in England in each year since 1976 was:
§ Mr. PrenticeI understand that it was the evidence as to the combined capacity of NHS technical and medical staff, working in specialist and other centres, to diagnose and assess occupational deafness which led the council to recommend this limitation.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give details of the action which he has taken to overcome the shortage of audiological facilities which led to the recommendation of a limit of 10,000 audiological examinations each year for industrial deafness.
§ Mr. PrenticeThe occupational deafness scheme introduced in 1975 was extended to cover additional groups in 1978, 693W when it was agreed that the maximum number of annual examinations for occupational deafness should remain at 10,000. The Department is currently carrying out a further review of the number of occupational deafness examinations that can be undertaken annually, and we hope to be able to offer evidence to the industrial diseases sub-committee of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council later this year.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will list the representations which he has received protesting about the restriction that claims for benefit for industrial deafness have to be made within 12 months of permanent cessation of work in a prescribed occupation; if he will estimate the number of people that have been precluded from claiming by this restriction; and if he will estimate the increase in the cost of paying benefit that would follow removal of the restriction;
(2) if he will list the representations which he has received protesting about the restriction that claimants for benefit for occupational deafness should have had a total of at least 20 years' employment in the occupation; if he will estimate the numbers of people that have been precluded from claiming by this restriction; and if he will estimate the increase in the cost of paying benefit that would follow removal of the restriction.
§ Mr. PrenticeRepresentations have been received from the following bodies on the 20 years' employment and the"12 months"rule for industrial deafness claims:
- ASTMS Parliamentary Committee
- TUC General Council
- General and Municipal Workers Union
- Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers, Ship
- wrights, Blacksmiths and Structural Workers
- National Union of Mineworkers (Easington Lodge)
- British Rail Engineering
A number of hon. Members and members of the public have also commented, but, while the points they made have been noted, there is no central record of the individuals concerned.
There is no reliable estimate of the numbers of people who might be entitled to disablement benefit if these conditions were removed and, consequently, it would not be possible to calculate the cost of their removal.
694W
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will request the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council to review again the operation of the provisions for occupational deafness.
§ Mr. PrenticeI understand that, in accordance with its continuing remit to keep the occupational deafness scheme under review, the council's industrial diseases sub-committee will be considering further evidence on its operation later this year.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will detail the research evidence that relates damage of the hearing mechanism with the period of time for which an individual is exposed to noise.
§ Mr. PrenticeThe seminal work in this field was commissioned jointly from the Medical Research Council and the National Physical Laboratory in 1962 by the then Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance. A report of their findings was submitted to the Secretary of State for Social Services in 1968 and published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office in 1970 as"Hearing and Noise in Industry"by Professor W. Burns and Dr. D. W. Robinson.
I understand that the National Physical Laboratory has since published two acoustic reports which are derived in part from "Hearing and Noise in Industry":
- (a) Tables for the Estimation of Noise Induced Hearing Loss (Robinson and Shipton) (AC61)
- (b) Hearing Hazard from Occupational Noise: (AC80)
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what publicity he has given to the availability of disablement benefit for industrial deafness; whether any representations have been made that the publicity is inadequate; and, if so, from which people and organisations.
§ Mr. PrenticeLeaflets, information and advice about the availability of disablement benefit for all prescribed industrial diseases, including industrial deafness, are freely available from local social security offices.
In addition, on the advice of the TUC,. the Department wrote to unions likely to have members working in the qualifying 695W occupations informing them of the introduction of the occupational deafness scheme and asking them to make it known to their members.
While some members of the public have complained that they were unaware of particular aspects of the occupational deafness scheme, I have received no formal representations on the subject.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list for each
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) 52 weeks ending Claims received Audiological examinations (c) as a percentage of (b) Diagnosis accepted by medical boards (e) as a percentage of (b) 17 June 1975 2,955 1,247 42 455 15 15 June 1976 3,952 2,551 65 1,533 39 14 June 1977 2,205 1,289 58 726 33 13 June 1978 2,581 1,467 57 527 20 12 June 1979 2,259 1,386 61 555 25 10 June 1980 4,640 2,543 55 661 14 NoteOccupational deafness was introduced as an industrial prescribed disease on 28 October 1974 and benefit became payable from 3 February 1975.
The figures in columns c and e relate to the examinations performed and claims allowed in the periods shown in column a; because of the time taken to determine claims, they do not relate directly to the claims received as shown in column b for the same years. Columns d and f must be interpreted in this light.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people who have been awarded occupational deafness benefit have also received compensation from their employers; how many people are known to have received compensation from their employers because of noise induced hearing loss; and what percentage of these has been awarded occupational deafness benefit.
§ Mr. PrenticeSince the payment of compensation by employers to people suffering from occupational deafness does not affect their entitlement to industrial injuries benefits, the Department has no knowledge of such compensation payments.