U.S.: Firefighters sue siren maker over their hearing loss

[webfact]

Firefighters sue siren maker over their hearing loss
By DEEPTI HAJELA

NEW YORK (AP) — There were times by the end of his shift that firefighter Joseph Nardone's head would be pounding, his eyes crossing from the noise of the siren on his truck.

"The siren was so loud inside the cab that it actually physically hurt," said the former New York City fire battalion chief. Even though he's been retired for over a decade, he said, the effects of the sirens linger in hearing loss that has left him unable to understand rapid conversation or follow along in church.

Nardone is among about 4,400 current and former firefighters nationwide who are suing Federal Signal Corp., an Oak Brook, Illinois-based company that makes sirens, claiming it didn't do enough to make them safer for those on fire trucks who have to listen to them nearly every day.

They say the company could have designed them in a way that directs the volume away from areas where firefighters sit in the engines, shielding them from sound blasts that lawyers say reach 120 decibels, roughly equivalent to a rock concert. Said the 73-year-old Nardone: "The manufacturer had the means and ability to do something about it and they didn't."

Federal Signal argues that directing the sound defeats one of the main purposes of a siren — to warn motorists and pedestrians that a truck is coming. And it says it has long supported what many departments have advised its firefighters to do: wear ear protection.

The lawsuits, which began surfacing more than a decade ago, have been in places such as New York, Philadelphia, Boston, New Jersey and the Chicago area, said attorney Marc Bern, who's leading all the lawsuits. In documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said juries have decided in favor of Federal Signal in most of the half-dozen or so suits that have gone to trial.

The company also has settled in some cases without admitting any wrongdoing. The largest settlement, reached in 2011, required the company to pay $3.6 million to 1,069 firefighters for cases filed in Philadelphia.

Bern said Federal Signal could have made the sirens with a shroud to warn those in its path instead of a more generalized blare.

"Clearly, you don't have to have sound going all the way to the rear of the fire engine," he said. "If you're driving behind a fire engine and you don't see a 50-foot-long, red ... engine with lights going on and off, there's really something wrong."

David Duffy, attorney for Federal Signal, said making the sirens more directed would put firefighters and the public at greater risk.

"Firefighters have testified that they want a loud siren that projects noise to the front and sides of fire trucks," he said. Accidents often involve vehicles that hit fire trucks from behind, necessitating a loud noise in all directions, he said.

Duffy also noted that firefighting organizations have for three decades advocated use of earplugs or ear coverings to reduce the risk of hearing loss from sirens or other noises in the course of their firefighting duties, "of which there are many."

The Fire Department of New York wasn't able to immediately provide information on its policies on noise or whether earplugs or coverings are provided or required.

Duffy said studies measuring the level of noise firefighters are exposed to during their work shifts, including sirens, is on average below 85 decibels.

Federal standards take into account the intensity of the sound and the duration. The higher the decibel level, the shorter the time workers can be exposed to it.

Rick Neitzel, who studies noise and other exposures at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, said the standards are geared to traditional jobs like manufacturing, not firefighting, where shifts can last for longer and the exposure is intermittent but intense.

"A lot of the questions now are: Is the current recommended level appropriate for exposure that a firefighter would have? And I would say we're not entirely sure," he said.

Dr. Lawrence Lustig, a hearing loss expert at Columbia University Medical Center, said people have different levels of susceptibility. Some research involving animals seems to imply that noise exposure in early years leads to more rapid age-related hearing loss, he said.

Retired Bronx firefighter Frank Bazzicalupo was exposed early. He joined the FDNY in his 20s and stayed for 25 years. The 61-year-old spent the last decade or so of that career driving fire trucks before retiring in 2002, hearing the sirens blaring overhead.

These days, trying to hear in any environment that has background noise is an exercise in frustration.

"On a plane is the worst," he said. "I hear the engines roaring; I can't hear the person next to me."


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-12-21

[Seastallion]

Don't sue the manufacturer for what the Procurement and Purchasing people decided was the right thing to install on the appliances, or what Command ordered firefighters to do, ie "Sit in that cab with the siren, that was designed to be very loud and was purchased because it was very loud, and don't wear hearing protection".

Any hearing loss by firefighters is absolutely not the fault of the siren manufacturer.

It's a very litigious society that can even entertain the odd reasoning behind this law suit.

[KMartinHandyman]

Embarrassing to be an American sometimes.

Money grab for not wearing ear protection or quitting the job if your head is splitting after work each day.

Sue the fire department or municipality that employed you and provided the trucks.

Oh wait they don't have deep enough pockets for everyone to jump in.

When in Thailand my wife warns me "you take care of you honey"

We need more of this in America but with the way things are going in politics I figure 51% of the people are on the dole and are voting their freeloading interest.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited December 20, 2015 by KMartinHandyman

[oneday]

I would have to ask why the firefighters DID NOT wear ear protection?

I would also think there are things the manufacturer could do to lessen the noise inside the truck.

Seems fault can be found on both sides.

[phitsanulokjohn]

Don't sue the manufacturer,if the government isn't providing ear defenders then sue them.A siren has to be loud,so why blame the manufacturer?

[JulesMad]

American answer for everything: sue, sue and sue.....

[sanukjim]

The insurance companies have been through this before with the suits against the gun malefactors when one is shoot with said weapon.The fire companies belonging to the cities would be responsible for any hearing loss as they bought the equipment.America seems to thrive on law suits.

Edited December 21, 2015 by sanukjim

[dutchisaan]

Only in America.

You guy's remember the lawsuit against MD over a hot cup of coffee?

Explains enough!

[Credo]

Somewhere in the process, they will come up with a siren which works effectively and minimizes hearing loss and the rest of the world will use it. But no one will give credit to those who pursued it.

Just like McDonald's reconfigured the temperature on their coffee to minimize the risk of scalding.

All of this and a whole lot of other things is because of those law suits.

[chumpy]

^{i wonder about how many people have hearing damage in Thailand from their very noisy motorbikes,it can't be good for your hearing.}

[chickenslegs]

A bit off topic - but why are fire/ambulance/police sirens so quiet here in Thailand? You have to open your car windows to hear them.

[LawrenceChee]

Ridiculous culture of litigation

If the sirens are loud wear ear protection that's what it is for

No firefighter worth their salt would want a reduced siren , they know. Aloud blast gets vehicles of your way to reach the action zone .

Is an accepted risk that the job carries this kind of environment ...so if one signed up and have the necessary gear to protect you from fire such as fire retardant suits and helmets etc logic would dictate an intelligent firefighter would also wear the ear protection provided

Be funny to see a solder suing the arms manufacturer next for giving him a sore arm or allergy from smelling the gunpowder next