World Hearing Day 2025 and supporting employees with hearing impairments

World Hearing Day 2025 – Changing mindsets: Empower yourself to make ear and hearing care a reality for all.

World Hearing Day is a global initiative created by the World Health Organization (WHO) dedicated to raising awareness about hearing loss and promoting ear and hearing care. The theme for 2025 is “Changing mindsets: Empower yourself to make ear and hearing care a reality for all”.

By 2030, over 500 million people are expected to have disabling hearing loss requiring rehabilitation – WHO

This year’s campaign aims to elevate the conversation around hearing health, encouraging individuals to prioritise and protect their hearing.  By being responsible individually, and as a wider group, we can all create a positive shift in how society values hearing health, including how workplaces adapt to support employees with hearing impairments. At iDiversity we are committed to creating accessible workplaces for individuals with hearing impairments by offering comprehensive support, including workplace assessments, training and assistive technology.

So, what can we all do to help promote hearing health and support others with hearing impairments?

Schedule a hearing test. Have you had a hearing test in the past 12 months? Establishing a baseline understanding of your hearing health is essential for proactive care.

Education and awareness: Learn about the causes of hearing loss, preventative measures and the importance of early intervention. Consider whether your workplace is fully accessible for deaf and hearing impairments?  Consider all the elements upon entering the organisations premises, accessing any security barriers, using lifts, the physical work environment, supporting communications technology, restrooms and meeting spaces.

Safe listening practices: Minimise exposure to loud noises where possible. Use hearing protection when necessary and be mindful of volume levels with headphones.

Support others: Offer understanding and support to individuals experiencing hearing challenges. In the workplace make sure you are offering reasonable adjustments to employees with hearing impairment such as;

• assistive listening devices.
• Clear visual communication through written materials
• Providing good lighting in your workspace, including in meeting rooms, to support individuals that may need to lip read.
• captioning or transcripts for video and audio content to capture the spoken word and translate to text
• awareness training for all staff on hearing impairment and inclusive communication.
• Ensuring that meeting rooms are set up in a way that minimises background noise and maximises visibility of all speakers.

Hearing loss can have a profound impact on an individual’s quality of life, affecting communication, social interaction and wellbeing. Prioritising ear and hearing care is essential for preventing hearing loss and ensuring access to necessary care for everyone.

Furthermore, creating inclusive workplaces where employees with hearing impairments can thrive is crucial for their professional success and health.

The WHO provide lots of resources and information on hearing loss prevention and care on their website – find out more here

Our mission to help those with hearing impairments in the workplace

iDiversity regularly works with individuals who have hearing impairments and we are experienced in supporting organisations to help make workplaces more inclusive for employees with a hearing impairment.

If you’re an employer and unsure how to support employees with hearing impairments, here are some ways to help them feel included and supported at work.

• Guidance on reasonable adjustments: Employers should have clear guidelines on what constitutes “reasonable adjustments” under relevant disability laws. This includes adjustments to work schedules, meeting formats, communication methods, and the physical workspace. Offering this guidance empowers managers and employees to work together to find practical solutions that remove barriers and ensure equal opportunities.
• Training: Providing training for both the employee with the hearing impairment and their colleagues. This includes training on how to use assistive technology, understanding different communication styles and fostering a culture of inclusive communication. This promotes awareness and reduces misunderstandings.
• Specialist assessment service: Engaging a specialist assessment service can provide in depth evaluations and tailored recommendations. These services can offer expert advice on workplace modifications, communication strategies, and assistive technology options, ensuring that the employee’s needs are met effectively and that the employer is fully compliant with legal requirements.

At iDiversity we can help support organisations with a range of services including specialist assessments and training tailored to employees with hearing impairments.

Hearing impairment specialist assessment service

Our hearing impairment specialist assessment service offers individuals a comprehensive workplace assessment and report of recommendations to support hearing impairments in the context of their job and workplace. The assessor will consider factors such as noise levels, communication needs, and the employee’s specific challenges to ensure their needs are met.

Disability awareness training

We offer cost-effective awareness training for individuals, groups, or entire organisations to help them better understand the challenges faced by employees with hearing impairments and the potential barriers they may come across within their work environment.

Disability impact training

We can also offer training to help employees who have a hearing impairment gain a better understanding of the effects of working with it and explore effective strategies to improve their workplace experience.

Access to Work

iDiversity provides a range of Access to Work support services including specialist support with Assistive Technology and training from our team. We are able to fulfil most Access to Work equipment and training orders and can provide you with a one stop solution to get your order organised.

Top 5 tips for speaking to someone with a hearing impairment

Adam Lee is an experienced freelance hearing awareness specialist at iDiversity and and UK Regional Director at Speaksee, and a passionate advocate for deaf awareness, Adam supports individuals and organisations in their journey to improve accessibility.

With years of experience in deaf awareness, he shares 5 top tips when speaking with someone with a hearing impairment:

1. See the person, not the disability. Although being deaf is a big part of someone’s life, this is not their defining characteristic. Make sure that you get to know the person and share personal experiences to build your relationship.

2. Get to know who you are speaking to and understand how they like to communicate. How should I get your attention? Do you use hearing aids or other assistive technology? Do you use BSL (or maybe a different sign language if you are not from the UK)? Do you also use lip reading? This information can make sure you are communicating effectively.

3. Make sure the lighting is good. Many people who are Deaf rely on facial expression and lip motions to help understand the conversation. If the lighting is poor, or you are sitting in front of a window, then your face can be shadowed making it very difficult.

4. Be patient. It is incredibly difficult to follow a conversation when you are deaf. Certainly, a deaf person will be using much more energy to communicate. Sometimes you might say something that is not understood. Be patient and repeat the statement. Try wording the sentence in a different way to support. If you know BSL then great, but if not then try using finger spelling to help with some words.

5. Learn BSL or even some basic BSL and finger spelling. There are loads of fantastic organisations that teach BSL. It can be learnt in stages, so if you can’t become fluent, even having some useful basic BSL knowledge can be very helpful. Finger spelling is great fun and only takes a few hours to learn well. It can really help when introducing yourself and also if you need help during a conversation. If you are speaking to someone who lip reads, then signing the first letter of a word can be very useful.