Møre Trafo’s Jo Arve and Jørn Erik are deaf:

Even when the noise is at its worst in the production halls at Møre Trafo, they hear nothing. Jo Arve and Jørn Erik work in silence. Both are welders, and both are hearing impaired.

Their life journeys have been marked by setbacks, disappointments and adversity, but also victories thanks to courage, determination and perseverance.

Jo Arve Furland (54) has 37 years of service at Møre Trafo, where he works with robot welding in the mechanical department. In his spare time, he is hooked on pinball. In 2020, he started Ålesund Flipperspillklubb, the only club of its kind in Møre og Romsdal. More on that later.

Jørn Erik Løvsjø (50) works with lid welding at Møre Trafo. He has done that since 2009. Outside work he has, in his own words, far too many hobbies. Jørn Erik ties flies, he paints, draws, sews and creates the most fantastic pictures with diamond beads. One of them consists of 144,000 tiny beads and took three years to complete. He is also a board member of Jo Arve’s pinball club.

Quiet drive – and pinball

Jo Arve Furland was six years old when the family moved from Ålesund to Sykkylven. He was born deaf due to complications during the pregnancy. As a child, he traveled every day between Sykkylven and Ålesund to attend Klipra school – a school for the hearing impaired. When the school was closed due to too few students, he was sent to Skådalen school in Oslo. But he never really felt at home there.

After a year he moved back to Sykkylven. In lower secondary school he had classes with a sign language interpreter, while working two days a week at a packaging factory. It was an early entry into working life – and the start of something bigger.

Handwritten Note

“When I finished lower secondary school, I got on my moped and drove to Møre Trafo. I was so nervous. I got to meet Einar, the foreman, and I wrote a simple question on a note: Do you need people? says Jo Arve.”

After looking Jo Arve up and down, the foreman wrote on the note: Yes. Can you start tomorrow? Jo Arve was both shocked – and happy. That’s how his working life at the substation started.

Two years later, Jo Arve got an offer from Møre Trafo to train in welding – on full pay – in return for committing to work five years at Møre Trafo. Jo Arve said yes, moved to Bergen, and took the welding course at Bjørkåsen school for the hearing impaired. But it would take a full 17 years before he moved over to the mechanical department and robot welding at Møre Trafo.

Often Feels Left Out

Communication in the workplace happens through a mix of body language, signs, and written notes. Interpreters are available three times a week, but sometimes he has to manage without. It has been challenging.

“Without an interpreter there can be many misunderstandings. I often feel left out and lonely when I don’t catch what’s being said. Hearing people get so much information ‘for free’. We have to fight for every word,” he says honestly.

Consider What You Should Mention

He has previously suggested arranging sign language courses for colleagues so everyone could learn the most essential signs, but nothing came of it. He advises deaf job seekers to think carefully about whether they should mention their hearing loss in the application:

“But if you are called in for an interview – be open, bring someone with you, preferably an interpreter, and explain what it actually means to hire a deaf employee,” says Jo Arve.

The Pinball Enthusiast

Outside work, Jo Arve is a man of many interests and great enthusiasm. He loves mountain hikes, traveling – especially by cruise ship – and he has a burning passion for pinball.

His passion runs so deep that he has started Ålesund Flipperspillklubb – the only one in all of Møre og Romsdal. It all began when, as a little boy, he had to stand on a chair to reach the pinball machine at the local kiosk. Even though pinball is known for sound, flashing lights and vibrations, hearing is not a requirement to get hooked.

Compensates for the noise

As always for Jo Arve, it’s not the noise in life that counts, but what you do with the silence.

“The lights and the vibration make up for the lack of sound,” he says, adding that pinball is social and fun – and a great way to meet people. He happily travels to competitions in Bergen, Oslo, Kristiansand – and even abroad. He himself has around 20 machines, stored in a warehouse, at home, or in the club’s premises at Tandstad Aktivitetshuset in Straumgjerde.

Strength, Patience and Joy of Creation

For Jørn Erik Løvsjø, life took an unexpected turn when, at the age of two, he lost his hearing after being struck by meningitis. He was born in Porsgrunn, but grew up in different places in Norway. After a few years in regular primary school, it became clear that he needed a more adapted education.

The move to Oslo School for the Deaf became an important turning point – here he received teaching adapted to his needs and an environment where he could develop without having to “explain himself” all the time.

Many job applications

He trained as a welder in Bergen, but the hunt for an apprenticeship and a job was anything but easy. Eventually it became clear to him that he had to try his luck somewhere else, and he moved to Trondheim.

— That turned out to be decisive. I got a welding job with responsibility for both training and production, and I felt I could really show what I was capable of. But in 2007 I chose to follow my heart when love lured me to Ålesund, says Jørn Erik with a smile.

Communicates well

He started sending new job applications. Only when someone tipped him off about Møre Trafo in Sykkylven did he get a bite. Since 2009 he has worked for Scandinavia’s largest manufacturer of transformers and substations.

At Møre Trafo he feels communication works well. He uses a hearing aid and has access to a sign language interpreter in larger meetings. Colleagues and managers are willing to adapt, whether that means writing things down or speaking clearly.

Hard When People Underrate You

— But applying for jobs has been tough. Many have underestimated me because of my hearing and my language. Having impaired hearing doesn’t make us different – we are equal people who can work. To employers I want to say: Don’t judge us by what we hear – but by what we do. It’s not our ears that define what we can achieve – it’s our hands, says Jørn Erik.

Møre Trafo Very Satisfied

— We are very pleased with our hearing-impaired colleagues here at Møre Trafo. They do a fantastic job and are highly dedicated. We really appreciate both the effort and commitment from Jo Arve and Jørn Erik, says Production Manager Kjetil Monsøy at Møre Trafo.

To keep communication flowing, Møre Trafo has an interpreter at the workplace three times a week and on special occasions through the NAV interpreting service.