Hearing Loss in the Workforce

A clear solution for an invisible challenge

It has been well-documented that the U.S. has an aging population. As the trend continues, businesses will feel the impact of aging as people ages 55-64 make up the fastest growing segment in the workforce. By 2014, almost a third of the working population will be over 50.

Hearing health professionals know first-hand the impacts of aging, but what does this really mean for businesses? First and foremost, businesses must deal with employees facing the health challenges associated with aging, and, as you know, hearing loss is one of the most common. Thirty-six million Americans have hearing loss and experts estimate that nearly 20% of working adults in the U.S. are affected in some degree. In addition, veterans returning to the workforce cite hearing loss as their No. 1 health issue with well over a million receiving health benefits annually.

Although a common issue, hearing loss is often called the "invisible disability" since it's hard to recognize and people are reluctant to self-identify. Without any accommodation, hearing loss can impact an employee's effectiveness and productivity. For instance, simple phone conversations that many of us take for granted can become taxing and difficult. Phones are paramount in business communication, and this issue directly affects a worker's ability to perform integral duties. Employees with hearing loss must ask others to repeat themselves or risk missing sensitive information. Worse, they may shy away from using the phone altogether and ultimately become isolated from colleagues. As a result, they can be perceived as inattentive, confused or hard to work with. Minor communication problems and misunderstandings can easily stack up and wear on an employee's confidence, work relationships and job satisfaction.

While hearing loss in the workforce is increasing, it is not a new challenge. The Americans with Disabilities Act identifies hearing loss as a disability and places employers responsible for providing reasonable accommodation.

The good news is this may be one of the easiest disabilities to accommodate and there are solutions readily available. New workplace technologies - such as telephone captioning - provide a feasible solution for hearing loss. Services like Clear Captions automatically converts everything the caller says to text displayed directly on the phone in near-real time, ensuring the people with hearing loss can capture the entire conversation on the phone again. Users can scroll through the telephone captions for anything they may have missed. For businesses already using qualifying phones like Cisco's product line, the captioning service can be integrated into the existing communications infrastructure at little to no cost. This ensures employees with hearing loss have access to the same functions and features as other employees.

Telephone captioning is a great way for businesses to offer reasonable accommodations for hearing loss. Many employees may not realize these solutions exist so audiologists and other hearing health professionals can make them aware as they contend with their hearing loss on the job. The CDC estimates $242 million is spent annually in worker's compensation for hearing loss. In contrast, FCC certified providers - like Clear Captions - can provide captioning services free of charge to both the employee and company. Captioning is completely private, discrete and reliable - proving to be a viable solution to a health challenge that is rapidly growing in offices across the U.S.

Source : http://speech-language-pathology-audiology.advanceweb.com/Hearing-Practice-Management/Features/Articles/Hearing-Loss-in-the-Workforce.aspx

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