Miss-Delectable
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http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/PA_NEWA37526111135362576A00?source=PA Feed
Unions are launching a campaign to encourage the UK's 28 million workers to check their hearing.
On the day when most employees return to work after the Christmas break, the TUC is giving its backing to the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID)'s Breaking the Sound Barrier initiative, which uses a simple telephone test to tell people concerned about their hearing whether they should seek help.
The TUC urged employers to allow their staff time at work to take the five-minute hearing check by ringing 0845 600 55 55. And general secretary Brendan Barber urged workers to make a New Year's resolution to take the check.
"Many older workers are struggling to get by at work either because they are too ashamed to admit to their hearing loss or because they have no idea what to do about it," he said.
"Many may also be reluctant to advertise it for fear that their employers may treat them less favourably as a result. But good bosses know that it makes sense to do all they can to help employees be as productive as possible at work and so most will, I'm sure, be keen for their staff to take RNID's hearing check."
The RNID phone line, launched shortly before Christmas, features a series of messages recorded by TV personality Eamonn Holmes.
It is designed to let callers know if they are among the estimated four million people in the UK who could benefit from wearing a hearing aid, but have done nothing about it.
Research by pollsters Mori shows that almost half of Britain's adults believe that embarrassment prevents people with hearing difficulties seeking help. More than 40% of the over-50s have some level of hearing loss, which for many people will be something that happens naturally as they get older.
With life expectancy increasing and pension provisions becoming less certain, there is the chance that more people than before may have to continue to work for longer, said a TUC spokesman. It was important that they are not frustrated by communication barriers at work because of hearing loss.
RNID chief executive John Low said: "RNID's telephone hearing check is a simple and non-intrusive way of finding out whether digital hearing aids and practical changes to your work environment could help you stay in work. Simple solutions such as amplified telephones and loop systems for hearing aid users can make the world of difference to someone with a hearing loss and enable employees to perform at their best."
Unions are launching a campaign to encourage the UK's 28 million workers to check their hearing.
On the day when most employees return to work after the Christmas break, the TUC is giving its backing to the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID)'s Breaking the Sound Barrier initiative, which uses a simple telephone test to tell people concerned about their hearing whether they should seek help.
The TUC urged employers to allow their staff time at work to take the five-minute hearing check by ringing 0845 600 55 55. And general secretary Brendan Barber urged workers to make a New Year's resolution to take the check.
"Many older workers are struggling to get by at work either because they are too ashamed to admit to their hearing loss or because they have no idea what to do about it," he said.
"Many may also be reluctant to advertise it for fear that their employers may treat them less favourably as a result. But good bosses know that it makes sense to do all they can to help employees be as productive as possible at work and so most will, I'm sure, be keen for their staff to take RNID's hearing check."
The RNID phone line, launched shortly before Christmas, features a series of messages recorded by TV personality Eamonn Holmes.
It is designed to let callers know if they are among the estimated four million people in the UK who could benefit from wearing a hearing aid, but have done nothing about it.
Research by pollsters Mori shows that almost half of Britain's adults believe that embarrassment prevents people with hearing difficulties seeking help. More than 40% of the over-50s have some level of hearing loss, which for many people will be something that happens naturally as they get older.
With life expectancy increasing and pension provisions becoming less certain, there is the chance that more people than before may have to continue to work for longer, said a TUC spokesman. It was important that they are not frustrated by communication barriers at work because of hearing loss.
RNID chief executive John Low said: "RNID's telephone hearing check is a simple and non-intrusive way of finding out whether digital hearing aids and practical changes to your work environment could help you stay in work. Simple solutions such as amplified telephones and loop systems for hearing aid users can make the world of difference to someone with a hearing loss and enable employees to perform at their best."