The theme this year is ‘To hear for life, listen with care’
Employers can ensure work is hearing friendly in a number of ways, including assessing policies, procedures, and processes to ensure they do not discriminate against hearing impaired or deaf colleagues. For example, if a call centre only receives phone calls it risks excluding people who cannot use the phone so an alternative route – such as email or online form – would be a reasonable adjustment.
Other considerations include:
- Seating arrangements in the office, meeting rooms so they can interact like anyone else
- Using voice transcription software on video calls and conferences
- Ensuring videos or webinars uploaded to intranet include subtitles and audio descriptions
- Arranging for microphones, hearing loops, and sign language interpreters at away days and conferences
- Using buddies in the event of an emergency, if someone cannot hear evacuation alarms
Noisy working environments and industries also have a responsibility to protect employees against hearing impairment and loss by reducing exposure to loud noises including:
- switching to quieter equipment if possible
- not exposing employees to loud noise for long periods
- providing hearing protection, such as headphones, to reduce impact of noise
Reflecting on this, Laura Evans, CEO, says:
“Unless adjustments are put in place, people with hearing impairments can face huge barriers in work. If others are thoughtless around adjustments then deafness and hearing impairment can be a very isolating and frightening experience – I’ve seen this first hand in a family member and several former colleagues. I once swapped desks with a colleague who had limited hearing, to be seated on the side where they could hear me.”
3rd March, 2022