Provide health and safety support
Staff who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus may need specialist health and safety equipment, such as a vibrating pager or flashing alert.
Visual fire alarms
Make sure all areas of the workplace have flashing alarms to alert staff with hearing loss. This includes private and quiet areas such as toilets, locker rooms, and prayer rooms.
Work with your employees to identify the best place for them to sit so they can see the alarm’s light. The alarm could be positioned next to their desk, slightly above it, or in their general eye-line.
You will also need to install visual alarms in meeting rooms, canteens and kitchens.
Critical Alert Paging Systems
Paging systems send critical alerts directly to a device that the employee can wear.
They can be used to alert staff to emergencies, such as fire, security breaches, or other critical situations. They’re especially useful for lone workers or in large workplaces.
Learn more about critical alert paging products from Call Systems Technology.
Accessible health and safety training
Any staff training must be accessible to people who are deaf or have hearing loss.
This could include providing communication support such as British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters, lipspeakers, or speech-to-text reporters. If you’re using videos, make sure they have subtitles.
Accessible health and safety policies
Review your policies regularly to make sure they’re adequately supporting employees who are deaf or have hearing loss. For example, ensure:
- your emergency evacuation plan is fully accessible
- your travel and lone-working policies take into account the safety of people who are deaf or have hearing loss
Policies should be in plain English, so they can easily be understood by staff whose first language isn’t English. You may also want to make some or all policies available in British Sign Language (BSL).
Deaf awareness in an emergency
Fire marshals should be made aware of employees who are deaf, have hearing loss, or tinnitus. We recommend that they complete deaf awareness training and British Sign Language training so that they’re able to communicate effectively in an emergency.
You should also make sure individual needs are supported. For example, an employee with tinnitus should be informed about fire drills so they can remove themselves from the building in advance.