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GAZETTE
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1990
THE IRISH SOCIETY FOR
EUROPEAN LAW
would be better not to burden the
individual, who may have other
medical problems that are unre-
lated, with this particular informa-
tion. If this individual goes on to
develop frank asbestos related
disease, the fact that he was
unaware of the earlier development
may lead him to seek help at a
much later date.
When did it become known
generally?
The cases of mesothelioma which
I referred to earlier came to the
notice of medical science in a series
of articles in reputable medical
journals. In 1963 there was one, in
1964 there was another one, 1965
there were 56 and numbers in
excess of this in each year there-
after for some time. Downstream
from this it seemed to be general
knowledge by the time I studied
occupational health at the London
School of Hygiene in 1971. When
does it become general knowledge
for employers and for workers?
Noise induced hearing loss
Noise induced hearing loss is also
an occupational disease of great
significance in this area. Occupa-
tional deafness is not due to
damage to the ear drum and small
bones of the ear. It is a "nerve-
deafness". This means that it
affects the nerve carrying mes-
sages received from the ear to the
brain. This is also known as
"sensori neural deafness". From
the point of view of its develop-
ment, the important thing about
noise induced hearing loss is that
we can measure the possible
effects of a particular noise dose on
a given population with great
accuracy. From the point of view of
" I t will take again between 10
to 30 years for a significant
disability from noise induced
hearing loss to develop. At
what stage should the
individual have known that he
has been injured?"
the individual, however, it means
that he does not notice that he is
going deaf at first. It is only high
tones in conversation or in music
that are affected at first. Gradually,
as the condition develops, the deaf-
ness starts to spread into the lower
frequencies affecting the conversa-
tional range of hearing. It is at this
26
The following persons were elected as Officers and members of the
Executive Committee of the
Irish Society for European Law
at the
Annual General Meeting held on January 17, 1990.
President:
The Hon. Mr. Justice Brian Walsh.
Vice Presidents:
The Hon. Mr. Justice T. F. O'Higgins
The Hon. Mr. Justice A. O'Keeffe
The Hon. Mr. Justice D. Barrington
Mr. Vincent Landy, SC
Mr. Finbarr Murphy, BL
The President of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland
The Chairman of the Bar Council
Ex Officio
Chairman:
Mr. Eamonn G. Hall, Solicitor.
Vice-Chairman:
Mr. Arthur F. Plunkett, B.L.
Hon. Secretary:
Ms. Ann C. Walsh, Solicitor.
Hon. Treasurer:
Mr. Patrick J. C. McGovern, Solicitor.
Ms. Margaret Barry B.L.
Ms. Nuala Butler, B.L.
Ms. Fionnuala Kilcullen, B.L.
Mr. Jeremy Maher, B.L.
Mr. Kieran Mooney, B.L.
Mr. Michael G. O'Beirn, Solicitor.
Mr. Aindrias 0 Caoimh, B.L.
Mr. James O'Reilly, S.C.
Mr. Vincent J. G. Power, B.L.
stage that he begins to notice that
he can't hear conversations in noisy
pubs or other public places. It will
take again between 10 to 30 years
for a significant disability from
noise induced hearing loss to
develop. At what stage should the
individual have known that he has
been injured? The National
Industrial Safety Organisation had
short advertisements running on
R.T.E. which should have informed
some affected workers. I should
mention that both noise and
asbestos are covered by current
regulations enforced by the Depart-
ment of Labour and these will be
further re inforced by the imple-
mentation of European Directives
on noise and asbestos in the near
future.
A recent development which will
be of considerable help to sorting
out the problem of occupational
disease cases is the Law Reform
Commission Report:
"The Statute of Limitations:
claims in respect of latent
personal injuries", published in
1987.
•
•This is the edited text of a paper
delivered to
The Medico-Legal Society
of Ireland.