Tinnitus caused by accident at work

[SexandDrugsandaNiceCuppa]

I'll try not to make this too long - in a nutshell, several months ago DH had an alarm go off right by his ear whilst he was checking a machine at work. He was found to not be at fault, the alarm should not have been triggered, and he had not been supplied with ear defenders, (they arrived a week later).
He is now suffering from tinnitus and slight hearing loss in one ear. He has seen both OH at his company, and an audiologist at our local hospital, who referred him for an MRI scan, (we are awaiting the results of this). The audiologist did confirm the damage to the ear, and although it is very hard to diagnose tinnitus, agreed that the damage caused was consistent with tinnitus, and it was probably permanent.
His company have been very dismissive - the nurse he saw at OH, (NOT a hearing specialist), just said it was impossible to diagnose tinnitus, marked it on his file and that was that. His manager gets very shifty when it's mentioned and quickly changes the subject.
So my question is where does he stand legally? We've been told he's eligible for compensation via the company's insurers, but we're not sure how to claim. I looked at a couple of no win, no fee lawyers, but they wanted 40-50% of any settlement, which seems very steep. Another factor which is making us hesitate to claim, is that DH has been a musician for most of his adult life, (rock/metal), and although he has NEVER sought medical help for hearing issues in his life, nor has he suffered from tinnitus, we are naturally concerned that they will simply seize upon this as an excuse not to pay, (they'll say the damage must have already been there).
Any advice on whether it would be worth pursuing this matter or not would be very gratefully received.

[SexandDrugsandaNiceCuppa]

Sorry, just to add, he doesn't want to leave his job either.

[hellocanyouhelp]

Is he a member of a trade union?

[SexandDrugsandaNiceCuppa]

Hello, yes he is - the union rep at his workplace was initially quite unhelpful, it was he who suggested that they wouldn't pay up due to DH's music work. DH had another chat with him yesterday, where he pointed out that his hearing was fine before the alarm incident and the rep has advised him to get in touch with the union for further advice, so he's going to do that this week.

[hellocanyouhelp]

If he looks on his unions website it will show him how to access their legal services. Some unions have in house Solicitors but most have firms of Solicitors who act on behalf of their members for personal injury claims.

He should be allocated a solicitor who deals with noise induce hearing loss claims.

Don’t pay too much attention to the union rep at this stage as with all due respect he is not a medical expert. He shouldn’t really be giving member’s advice like this but should instead be advising your husband to access the unions legal services.

The solicitor will discuss what happens with your husband and assess liability (I.e. if there is a claim), this may take some time.

It would be for a medical expert to assess if the noise was sufficient enough to cause such an injury. Past history will be considered and even if someone did have previous hearing loss accidents can cause an exacerbation of symptoms which can be claimed for (not saying this is your husband case but just saying as an example).

Medical evidence would however only be obtained if the case has reasonable prospects of success.

Generally if you make a claim via your union no deductions are made however im not 100% sure this is the case with all unions but they will be able to advise you on this.

[SexandDrugsandaNiceCuppa]

Thank you very much for replying - that's really helpful.