Claim of Bednar v. Ingersoll Rand Co.

Appeal from an award of the State Industrial Board. The claimant was injured by the bursting of a compressed air hose, resulting in a twenty-five per cent permanent loss of hearing of one ear. The Board made its award for the partial loss of hearing, under paragraphs m and s of subdivision 3 of section 15 of the Workmen’s Compensation Law, on the theory that a partial loss of hearing was a partial loss of a “ member,” and award could be made proportionately. This was error. A loss of hearing is not the loss of a “ member,” and a proportionate award may not be made for a permanent partial loss…