Thinking of bringing a case against former company

I have tinnitus and an event that happened in a factory where I worked seems to have made my condition worse. I started work there back in August, and one day myself and another new worker were brought into a very loud area of the factory when being shown the ropes. I remember looking out for a sign on the way in that said "danger, loud noise", or something like that. But there wasn't any such sign. I also didn't see any ear plugs on the way in, and I found this strange as I'd worked in a factory before.

I remember thinking I should ask the supervisor (who was bringing us in), for ear protection. I didn't and it was a very weak moment on my part. But on hindsight, it was extremely irresponsible of her not to present us with ear protection on our first time being in such an area. When we were inside this area we could just about hear each other when we shouted. So it would have been quite a bit louder than a night club. After about 3 minutes I asked the supervisor how many decibels it was in there. She didn't know. I then asked if we were going to be in there much longer, and she said that we were. So we went back out to the entry area and found some ear muffs. The ear muffs were in a room that was off the entry room, so there was no way that I could have known where they were even if I'd went looking myself.

I'd have to wonder if the same lady was bringing a health and safety inspector in there, would she not have thought of this either! I was told a few days later by this factory's site health and safety guy, that it was 89 decibels in that area of the factory. But I don't think I believe that having looked up indications of loudness. Part of the reason I had a bad feeling at the time was that it would've been noise of a very high frequency, and these sounds are apparently is more dangerous.

I straight away resented the fact that this supervisor did not give us ear protection. I also felt that it would be too good to be true that I could make the mistake I did, and get away with it. I didn't notice anything until, 11 days later, when I woke up one night with a new noise in my ears. This noise sounded similar to the noise in that part of the factory. Since then my tinnitus has definitely stabilised at a perceived louder volume than before the incident. I'm sure of this because it was terrible getting to sleep for about a fortnight after I first noticed it... until I sort of have got used to the new loudness of my tinnitus. I've also upped the volume of the background noise that I play while I sleep. I've tied to lie to myself for long enough that my worsened tinnitus isn't as a result of this occurrence.

What can I do? The company is well known for its poor health and safety. A man recently lost the tip of his finger a that factory. What are my options?

 

Firstly I would contact the CAB, they will have a free solicitor. That is your first step.