WORKPLACE SAFETY AND INSURANCE BOARD
APPEALS RESOLUTION OFFICER DECISION
claim: 20170037
OBJECTION BY: WORKER
WORKER REPRESENTATIVE: SELF
EMPLOYER: Employer
EMPLOYER REPRESENTATIVE: SELF
HEARD BY: F.J. MACKIN
DATE: December 14, 2017
ISSUE
The worker is claiming entitlement for occupational noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).
HOW THE ISSUE ARISES
The worker is a 75-year old former Crane Operator. On September 13, 2016 he claimed entitlement for occupational NIHL due to exposure to hazardous noise while employed with the following employers:
Employer XX for six years from 1964 to 1970;
Employer YY for six months in 1971 and 1972;
Employer ZZ for six months in 1973 and 1974
By decision dated April 18, 2017 the NIHL Adjudicator denied the claim because it did not meet the WSIB minimum threshold of noise exposure required for entitlement. The worker objected to that decision and on December 11, 2017 the objection was referred to me for determination.
AUTHORITY
- Policy 16-01-04 NIHL on or after January 2, 1990
Occupational NIHL is a permanent loss of hearing in both ears resulting from sensorineural (inner ear) damage due to prolonged, continuous, hazardous noise exposure in the workplace.
Workers exposed to hazardous noise in the workplace are entitled to WSIB benefits if the minimum hazardous noise exposure was 90 dB for 8 hours per day for 5 years with a hearing loss of at least 22.5 dB in each ear when the hearing loss in the 4 speech frequencies (500, 1000, 2000, and 3000 Hertz) are averaged.
A presbycusis (aging) factor of 0.5 dB is deducted from the measured hearing loss (averaged over the 500, 1000, 2000, and 3000 Hz frequencies) for every year the worker is over the age of 60 at the time of the audiogram. The hearing loss that remains after the presbycusis adjustment is then used to determine entitlement to benefits. Entitlement to health care and rehabilitation benefits is available when the adjusted hearing loss is at least 22.5 dB in each ear.
Those claimants whose hearing loss is at or above 26.25 dB in each ear or at or above 25 dB in the better ear and 32.5 dB in the worse ear are entitled to a non-economic loss (NEL) determination.
RESOLUTION METHOD
Hearing in Writing
SUBMISSIONS
The worker provided written submissions dated August 14, 2017. He described his job duties as follows:
We built metal frames for diesel engines, cast iron equipment and parts, plumbing equipment, etc. My main role was an overhead crane operator where I worked for six years full time and other years seasonally. The shift was eight hours with two 15 minute breaks. The cab of the crane was an open-air, non-insulated metal box approximately 6’ x 6’. I was subjected to smoke, heat and an excessive amount of noise. Moreover, our bay was located adjacent to the loudest area of the plant, where the agitators worked to shake off and remove the sand debris from the materials and equipment. The crane operator in that bay and myself would have been subjected to the highest noise levels at the site.
The noise in my cab came from multiple sources including but not limited to the following:
Steel on steel wheels of my own crane
Steel on steel wheels of approximately ten other cranes in the building,
Cast iron plates I moved around landing on the steel work stations
Hook up and disconnection rattling of the chains that were used as harnesses on the product I was moving
The worker also relies on information from external databases, including Work Safe BC, that show Crane Operators exposed to at least 90 dB of noise during their employment.
ASSESSMENT OF THE EVIDENCE
The worker’s objection is denied for the reasons set out below.
An allowable WSIB claim for occupational NIHL must meet all three of the following WSIB requirements:
The type of hearing loss is consistent with exposure to noise (sensorineural).
The level of hearing loss when adjusted for presbycusis is at least 22.5 dB in each ear.
The level of noise exposure in the workplace is 90 dB, 8 hours per day for 5 years or equivalent.
The minimum hazardous noise exposure of 90 dB for 8 hours per day for 5 years has the following equivalencies:
84 dB for 40 years 89 dB for 7 years
85 dB for 28 years 91 dB for 3.5 years
86 dB for 20 years 92 dB for 2.5 years
87 dB for 14 years 93 dB for 1.8 years
88 dB for 10 years 94 dB for 1.25 years
This claim is adjudicated on an audiogram dated September 17, 2016. When adjusted for presbycusis, that audiogram shows a hearing loss, compatible with exposure to noise, of 33 dB in the worker’s right ear and 29.25 dB in his left ear. The worker’s claim, therefore, meets the 1st and 2nd WSIB requirement mentioned above.
When adjudicating claims for occupational NIHL, the WSIB considers a worker’s entire employment history and charges the claim to the last employer of record, which in this case is Employer XX.
There is no information concerning the level of noise exposure during the worker’s employment prior to Employer XX. When there is no information from the actual employers, the WSIB relies on external databases including Work Safe BC. Those databases indicate the average noise exposure for various sectors of employment. Consequently, I find that during the worker’s employment as a Crane Operator at Employer YY and Employer ZZ, he was likely exposed to a noise level of 90 dB as indicated by the external databases included in the worker’s written submissions. Nevertheless the worker was not employed at Employer YY and Employer ZZ long enough to meet the WSIB minimum threshold of noise exposure required for occupational NIHL.
Information provided by Employer XX shows that a Crane Operator there would have been exposed to 87 dB of noise. I give more weight to the information from Employer XX rather than the external databases because Employer XX was actually where the worker was employed as a Crane Operator from 1964 to 1970 and its information is, therefore, more reliable.
The worker does not meet the level of noise exposure required by Policy 16-01-04 and so his claim is not allowable for occupational NIHL.
Since individual susceptibility to noise varies, however, if the evidence of noise exposure does not meet the WSIB minimum requirement, claims are adjudicated on the real merits and justice of the case, having regard to the nature of the occupation, the extent of the exposure, and any other factors peculiar to the individual case. In my judgment, there is nothing unusual or peculiar about the worker’s employment as a Crane Operator that persuades me to waive the WSIB minimum level of noise exposure required for entitlement.
I note the worker was last exposed to occupational noise in 1974, when he was still employed at Employer XX. It is well established, however, that once exposure to noise in the workplace ends, there is no substantial worsening of hearing due to occupational noise. On the worker’s Form 6 dated September 13, 2016, he reports that he first noticed a hearing loss “25 years ago”. That would be in 1991. But in 1991 the worker had been out of occupational noise exposure for 17 years. Therefore, the worker’s hearing loss, apparent in 1991, is unlikely related to occupational noise exposure that occurred some 17 years earlier.
CONCLUSION
The worker’s objection is denied.
DATED December 14, 2017
(Mr.) F.J. Mackin
Appeals Resolution Officer
Appeals Services Division