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8.2.3 Percentage reduction in sight

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Section 39(6) provides for compensation for partial loss of sight in one eye proportionate to the percentage of reduction in sight caused by the injury. Any loss of sight in that eye prior to the injury is excluded from the calculation when determining the percentage loss.

Compensation for partial loss of sight in an eye under the 1971 Act is therefore based on the percentage diminution in sight resulting from the compensable injury.

This means that a client who had only 60% sight in an eye immediately before the injury and has 30% sight after the injury suffers a loss of 50%.

What is required is the proportionate reduction in sight, not the reduction in absolute terms.