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Occupational Deafness Compensation Scheme
Employees suffering from noise-induced deafness by reason of their employment can apply for compensation under the Occupational Deafness Compensation Scheme to be launched in early July.
The Commissioner for Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, said today (Friday) the scheme would provide compensation to workers who had developed occupational deafness.
To apply for compensation, an applicant should be suffering from sensorineural hearing loss amounting to at least 50 decibels in each ear, being due in the case of at least one ear to noise and being the average of pure tone loss measured by audiometry over the one, two and three kilohertz frequencies.
Moreover, he should have at least 10 years of employment in aggregate in specified noisy occupations in Hong Kong and a period of continuous employment in a noisy occupation at any time either within the 12 months preceding the application for compensation or within the 72 months before the implementation date of the scheme.
"The scheme will be funded by a 1.5 per cent across-the-board levy on the insurance premiums of all employees' compensation policies, to be collected by the Employees' Compensation Insurance Levies Management Board," Mr Ip said.
To set up the scheme, the Government will provide a start-up fund of $215 million, including a government injection of $100 million and an interest-free loan of $115 million.
The Government, as an employer, will be required to contribute to the scheme an amount of about $3 million per annum.
An Occupational Deafness Compensation Board, tripartite in composition with medical professionals, will be set up to administer the scheme.
Mr Ip said compensation for occupational deafness would follow the compensation formula for permanent incapacity under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance.
"Compensation will be paid in the form of a lump sum payment calculated according to a claimant's age, earnings and degree of permanent incapacity. Under the scheme, total deafness due to prolonged exposure to occupational noise will be equated to 60 per cent incapacity," he added.