Hearing loss - communication in the workplace

If you have hearing loss, communicating at work can be difficult, especially if your colleagues don’t know what to do. Many people who shy away from talking with you are simply nervous about making a mistake or causing offence. There are many ways to improve communication, and it usually helps to tell people the best way to talk with you. In most cases, they will appreciate your direct approach.

Explaining your hearing loss to colleagues#

Your colleagues may know little or nothing about your particular hearing impairment, so they need specific details to communicate well with you. Suggestions include:

• Avoid the blanket statement ‘I’m deaf’. Instead, describe the nature of your hearing loss. For example, you might say, ‘I have trouble hearing voices when there’s a lot of background noise’.
• Tell colleagues how best to talk with you. For example, ask them to speak a little more slowly, to stay a reasonable distance away, and to make sure their face is well lit.
• Ask them to raise their volume slightly and to use appropriate visual cues.
• Ask them to rephrase rather than simply repeat anything you have difficulty with, and to write down critical information such as dates, times, addresses, phone numbers, names and amounts of money.
• If you have more hearing loss on one side, let people know which is your ‘good side’, and explain that judging the direction of sounds can be difficult for you.
• Explain how any specialised devices (such as a TTY) work, and let people know if you wear hearing aids or a cochlear implant.

If you also have a condition such as tinnitus or Ménière’s disease, explain how it affects you. For example, you may at times become dizzy and nauseous and need to lie down, and may not be able to drive or operate machinery during that time.

If a colleague has hearing loss#

Communicating with a colleague who has hearing loss can feel awkward when you are unsure what to do. If in doubt, ask them. They will appreciate your effort and will not think you are being rude or drawing unnecessary attention to their hearing loss.

It helps if all staff are trained in deafness awareness, which can be arranged through community and specialist organisations, along with professional advice on adapting the workplace. You might suggest this to your manager. It also helps if everyone learns some basics about hearing loss:

• All deaf or partially deaf people have different communication needs, and not everyone feels the same way about their hearing loss.
• Sign language is helpful, but is generally used only by people who are completely deaf.
• Most people with impaired hearing have some residual hearing but show no outward sign of how much they can hear, and the amount may fluctuate with the environment or with their emotional or physical state.
• Most people with impaired hearing communicate by speaking, and their language level is not necessarily a guide to how well they hear.
• People who have a cochlear implant usually cannot hear anything without using their speech processor.

Talking face to face#

General suggestions for talking face to face with a colleague who has hearing loss include:

• Make sure you have their attention first – say their name, move into their line of vision, wave, or touch them gently on the shoulder.
• Make sure your face is well lit. Don’t stand in front of a window, because the back-light shadows your face. If necessary, move to a quieter location.
• Allow the person to see your face directly at all times. Don’t look away or drop your head, don’t eat, and don’t cover your face with your hand.
• Keep eye contact. Don’t talk to them when they are walking away from you, or as you leave the room.

For effective communication:

• Identify the topic first – for example, ‘I’d like to talk about tomorrow’s meeting’.
• Use open-ended questions rather than ones that need only a ‘yes’ or ’no’, so you can tell whether you have been understood.
• Speak clearly, but don’t exaggerate your lip and mouth movements, as this makes speech-reading harder.
• Talk at a normal pace; speaking too slowly can seem patronising. Speak a little louder than usual, but don’t bellow. Ask the person how best to adjust your speed and volume.
• Pause from time to time to let the person catch up and ask questions.
• Use body language and facial expression, and try not to keep a deadpan face.

Sometimes the person still can’t understand what you are saying. If so:

• Don’t be embarrassed, uncomfortable or frustrated, and don’t make the person feel as though they are the problem.
• If you have an accent, allow time for them to adjust.
• Rather than repeating a missed phrase word for word, say it another way, and use visual cues such as gestures.
• If you still can’t get through, offer to write it down. If they would rather you didn’t, ask what they would prefer.

Meetings and conferences#

A person with hearing loss may find it hard to follow a conversation when several people are talking. To run successful meetings:

• Distribute a written agenda in advance, and invite people with hearing loss to submit questions in writing if they prefer.
• Ask the chairperson or speaker to repeat questions from around the table before answering them.
• Adjust your speed when reading from notes or documents, as most people read aloud faster than they normally speak, which is hard for colleagues with hearing loss to follow.
• Present information visually where possible, such as slides or written notes.
• If you use videos as part of a presentation or for training, include captions and subtitles.
• Install an audio loop – a wire loop that encircles an area such as a conference room and feeds amplified sound to a person using a hearing aid. Sound is fed in through a microphone, and only that sound is heard.
• Use other assistive listening systems, such as FM and infra-red. Personal receivers can be fitted with headphones or ’neck loops’ for hearing-aid wearers.
• Make sure the speaker’s face is well lit.

Using an interpreter#

Ask the person with hearing loss whether they want to use an interpreter. An organisation may hire a sign-language interpreter or an oral-deaf interpreter for occasions such as conferences or social events. A sign-language interpreter translates between the spoken word and sign language, while an oral-deaf interpreter ’lip speaks’ (repeats without voice) what is said for the benefit of lip-readers.

Points to remember when using an interpreter:

• Book interpreters well in advance, and discuss the event with them beforehand. Brief them on any jargon or technical matters. Everything discussed is kept in confidence; check with the interpreter or their professional association about confidentiality and their code of ethics.
• Address the person with hearing loss, not the interpreter. For example, ask the person directly, ‘What time is the meeting scheduled?’ rather than telling the interpreter, ‘Ask her what time the meeting is’.
• Don’t speak too quickly. The interpreter will be a few seconds behind, and will tell you if they need you to slow down.
• Give the interpreter regular breaks – for example, around 10 minutes every half hour. For a long event, book two interpreters so they can share the workload.

Socialising with colleagues#

Some people feel uncomfortable around a colleague with hearing loss because they are unsure how to behave. Suggestions:

• Don’t leave the person out of social conversation; limiting your contact to work issues can make them feel isolated.
• Ask the person how they prefer to communicate.
• Don’t focus on their hearing loss by expressing sympathy or admiration. Move past it and get to know them as a person.

Tips for managers#

Work environments can be adjusted to take account of a person’s hearing loss. Specialised equipment helps, but training staff in deafness awareness matters even more, because most people are simply unsure how to communicate with someone who has hearing loss. You can also arrange sign-language training for staff – discuss the options with your organisation.

Office set-up#

• Make sure the office is well lit. Good lighting, both natural and artificial, is essential, but avoid harsh lighting and glare. A person with hearing loss needs to see the other person’s face during a conversation.
• Remove glass barriers, which can muffle sound.
• Keep close when speaking, and avoid wide counter-tops and desks.
• Give the person a workspace with as little background noise as possible.

Safety#

• Fit flashing lights to audible smoke or evacuation alarms.
• Install emergency flashing lights in toilets, storerooms and areas where closed doors may block the view.
• Fit a ‘visual alert system’, such as a flashing light, to any device that could be a health or safety risk – for example, a light that flashes when machinery is operating.
• Include a ‘buddy system’ in your evacuation plan, where employees leave the building in pre-arranged pairs.
• Make sure the workplace is well signposted, and provide in writing any information that is given verbally.
• Use text messages on mobile phones (set to vibrate) and vibrating pagers to alert employees in emergencies.
• Make sure workers with hearing loss understand all evacuation procedures, as reassurance is hard to offer in an emergency. If power fails or smoke reduces visibility, use flashlights to guide them out and stay in physical contact until they reach safety.

Workplace equipment#

Suggested equipment in the workplace includes:

• Telephone typewriter (TTY) – a small screen and keyboard used in place of the telephone handset, on which users type their conversation rather than speak. Using a telephone relay service, a person with a TTY can call people who don’t have one (and vice versa); an operator acts as a go-between and relays the conversation. TTY calls can also be made via a computer and modem.
• Audio loop – a wire loop that encircles an area, such as a conference room, to provide amplified sound through a hearing aid. ‘Looped mats’ can be placed on desks and counters in reception areas and interview rooms.
• FM and infra-red listening systems – these have multiple personal receivers that can be fitted with headphones or ’neck loops’ for hearing-aid wearers, and are versatile enough for meetings, lectures and training sessions.

Personal equipment that may also be useful includes:

• Hearing aid – amplifies all sounds. This may or may not help, depending on the setting; in a noisy workplace it amplifies background noise as well as voices.
• Email and fax – to send and receive messages instead of using the telephone.
• Volume-enhanced telephone – with an adjustable volume control.
• Volume-control earpiece – placed over a telephone earpiece to amplify the voice.
• Teleflash – a light fitted to the telephone that flashes when it rings.
• Pager or alarm clock set to vibrate instead of ring.
• FM system – a portable receiver and headset that amplifies sound without the need for wiring.

Key points#

• If you have hearing loss, tell colleagues the specific ways that help you communicate; if you are unsure how to talk with a colleague who has hearing loss, ask them.
• Make sure your face is well lit and visible, keep eye contact, and don’t stand in front of a window.
• Body language and facial expression are important.
• Specialised equipment helps, but training staff in deafness awareness is even more important.
• Good lighting, both natural and artificial, is essential, but avoid harsh lighting and glare.

Where to get help#