Squealing Pigs Render Farm Worker Deaf
- 11 years ago
A French farm worker was awarded damages from his former employer because the squeals of the pigs under his charge had rendered him deaf.
A French farm worker was awarded damages from his former employer because the squeals of the pigs under his charge had rendered him deaf.
The court decided that the Pelizzari group had made an “inexcusable error” in their failure to protect the man from on-the-job hazards.
In the 6 and-a-half years the man worked at the farm, he was exposed to the sounds of 4000 vocal pigs.
The man told a local paper, "Working in a piggery means listening to constant noise and screams from the pigs, eight hours a day, seven days a week."
The decibel range of their squeals is estimated to be between about 120 and 130.
Since 2012, the legal maximum a worker can be expected to endure without being given protective equipment is 85 decibels. (
That cap was part of the country’s official recognition of deafness as a work hazard.
After considering the case, the court said that the man was forced to "work in conditions incompatible with human dignity."
The amount to be given to the middle aged former piggery employee has yet to be determined. The court is awaiting the results of his physical examination.
A French farm worker was awarded damages from his former employer because the squeals of the pigs under his charge had rendered him deaf.
The court decided that the Pelizzari group had made an “inexcusable error” in their failure to protect the man from on-the-job hazards.
In the 6 and-a-half years the man worked at the farm, he was exposed to the sounds of 4000 vocal pigs.
The man told a local paper, "Working in a piggery means listening to constant noise and screams from the pigs, eight hours a day, seven days a week."
The decibel range of their squeals is estimated to be between about 120 and 130.
Since 2012, the legal maximum a worker can be expected to endure without being given protective equipment is 85 decibels. (
That cap was part of the country’s official recognition of deafness as a work hazard.
After considering the case, the court said that the man was forced to "work in conditions incompatible with human dignity."
The amount to be given to the middle aged former piggery employee has yet to be determined. The court is awaiting the results of his physical examination.