ECC orders miner paid for loss of hearing

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- A miner is getting compensation for work-related hearing loss four years after his retirement.

In its recent ruling, the Employees’ Compensation Commission ordered the Social Security System to grant disability benefits and reimburse the medical expenses of Baltazar Bodtan.

“Bodtan met the conditions for compensability of occupational hearing loss when he was exposed…to harmful noise levels…such as blasts and sustained noise from drilling machines,” the ECC ruling read.

As underground environmental supervisor at a mining company in this povince for 24 years, Bodtan was responsible for the installation, maintenance of ventilation equipment, waste disposal and operation of mining machines.

Bodtan was diagnosed with moderate and sensorineural hearing loss with a 49 percent handicap in 2007.