Ford v. SAIF Corp.

Claimant seeks review of an order of the Workers’ Compensation Board that affirmed the referee’s denial of compensability of his occupational disease claim for hearing loss due to prolonged exposure to noise. We reverse.

Beginning in 1954, claimant worked for 28 years for Forest Fiber Products Company at its hardboard (or “masonite”) manufacturing plant. He worked for approximately the first 16 years in the treatment department and the remaining years as a maintenance employe. He filed his claim when he retired in 1982 at the age of 61. The treatment department trimmed hardboard with saws and…