Voice damage

A different but equally serious risk associated with workplace noise is that of voice damage. In 2010, 50-year-old teacher Joyce Walters was awarded an out-of-court settlement of £156,000 after suffering permanent damage to her vocal chords through being forced to raise her voice to be heard above high levels of noise and disruption outside her classroom in the London Borough of Hillingdon. She developed nodules on her vocal chords, but instead of moving her to a different classroom, her managers told her that “vocal chord nodules are considered an occupational hazard for all teachers”.

The National Education Union provides guidance on voice care for teachers which can be found on its website.