The iwatch has a feature that tells you if you’re expose to loud sounds that can be harmful to your ears. At work it frequently reminds me of the loud noise. Three years ago I had explained to my employer that my ears are in pain because of someone abusing the horns on the forklift. (I work in a warehouse.) The person who purposely held onto the horn right behind me. It gave me a throbbing headache and my ears were ringing all day. I had filed an incident report about this so that I can be reimbursed if it caused long term damage. I knew something was wrong because the slightest noise had me clutching my ears in pain. After I filed the report my job did pay for my doctor visit on this matter. The doctor informed me that I won’t lose my hearing but that my ears are inflamed and if my could not accommodate me with noise canceling ear protection I would have to take take two weeks off and spend the remainder of that time avoiding noise and wearing my own purchased ear protection.
Spoke to HR and manager with the given doctor’s note. They told me to stay home because this is a job you need to be able hear. Took those two weeks off hoping to be paid because this incident did happened at work. But was denied any pay by a workers Comp. Representative because they told me they did an investigation and the company meets the sound guidelines for a safe environment. I explained if they took account of the person holding onto the horn for close to two minutes. I was then asked if I listen to music on my way to work. I said of course I do but I’m not cranking up the volume. I’m the only one in the car that means nobody is talking over me so the volume stays at a fairly normal and low level. I was then asked if I listen to metal music. It made me frustrated because I knew I had lost. I wasn’t getting paid and it was a struggle losing a full paycheck.
Revisited the doctor for a checkup and had told her I will be paying out of pocket. She said I didn’t have to because my employer should take care of it. But after explaining it was a no-go she got mad for me and went on a mini rant that my job is at fault. My hearing didn’t felt normal until after a couple of months. Sadly still work at my job but now when the noise gets overwhelming I wear ear buds which they finally offered after a few more complaints. The iwatch notification reminded me of this incident.