Action on Hearing Loss the national charity for people who are deaf or have hearing loss has awarded its Louder than Words Charter Mark to Western Power Distribution for a seventh successive year.

The nationally-recognised accreditation recognises organisations that provide excellent levels of service and accessibility for customers and for employees who are deaf or hard of hearing.

To achieve the accolade, electricity distribution business WPD had to satisfy ten quality standards, and in doing so, ensure that they were meeting the requirements of the Disability Discrimination and Human Rights Acts.

Action on Hearing Loss Cymru’s director, Richard Williams, said the organisation was delighted to award the Charter Mark to WPD.

He said: “This is now the seventh year that the business has achieved the accolade, which really demonstrates its commitment to improve and offer excellent levels of service and accessibility for customers and employees with hearing loss.”

WPD’s corporate communication manager, Paul Bishop, said: “Providing world class levels of customer service is vital to the way WPD does business, which is why we are committed to meeting the rigorous standards set by Action on Hearing Loss.

“Our customer contact centre staff receive specialist training on how to communicate with customers who may have communication difficulties, so this accolade reflects our commitment to customers and staff alike.”

WPD was recently highlighted by Action on Hearing Loss in a national report called Working for Change. This identified it as a business that provides excellent levels of service and accessibility for deaf or hard of hearing customers and employees.