Has Working with Asbestos Made You Ill?
It is a common misunderstanding that companies who exposed their workers to asbestos, decades ago, were not aware how dangerous the substance was to their employee’s health. However, this is not true. By 1930, it was generally accepted that asbestos was a health risk in industry. A report prepared by the Medical Inspector of Factories led to the Asbestos Industry Regulations 1931. Those regulations were directed towards industries manufacturing asbestos. However, over the next couple of decades, it became more apparent that dangerous exposure related also to those people who worked for non-asbestos manufacturing industries.
Previously, many claims were made by laggers, and those employed in the asbestos manufacturing industry, together with those employed in the smoke stack industries. However, that focus has more recently changed to include those employed within the construction industry and other lesser users of asbestos and asbestos products.
If you have, in the last three years, been diagnosed with an asbestos related illness, such as asbestosis, lung cancer (where there is evidence of pleural thickening or asbestosis) or mesothelioma, then you should see a solicitor and get advice about making a claim. It could be that the last time you were exposed to asbestos was a number of decades ago. That of itself does not matter. Asbestos has what is called an “incubation period”. That period can be up to many years.
Some of the people that I speak to are concerned that the companies that they worked for are no longer in existence. This does not prevent you making a claim. As long as the insurers for the time that you worked at the company can be traced then your claim should still be able to go ahead. Another concern is that you may have worked for more than one company who exposed you to asbestos. Again, this does not stop you making a claim. What will often happen is that the amount of compensation you receive will be apportioned between the different companies that you worked for.
In addition to making a claim for negligence against your employers, you may also be entitled to Industrial Injuries Benefit. You should attend your local DSS office and obtain the relevant claim form, for a Prescribed Disease. Once you have filled the form in and submitted it back to the DSS office then they will arrange for you to be medically examined by their own doctor and a decision will be made. I recommend to all my clients that, even if they have a claim against their former employers, they also make a claim to the DSS.
For those exposed to asbestos, who have then been diagnosed with an illness, it is also possible to make a claim under the Pneumoconiosis etc (Workers Compensation Act) 1979. This act is designed to provide compensation for those sufferers of asbestos diseases who are unable to claim compensation from employers who negligently exposed them to asbestos. Those compensation payments are dealt with by Job Centre Plus and the telephone helpline is free phone 0800 279 2322.
Until fairly recently, if you had been diagnosed with Pleural Plaques, due to exposure to asbestos, then you may have been able to make a claim. However, following a House of Lords decision, that it not now possible. Currently, the government is being lobbied to bring in legislation to change that decision. Those Solicitors who deal with this sort of work are watching developments closely as it is hoped that, in the future, those suffering Plural Plaques may again be able to claim compensation.
If you have been diagnosed with an asbestos related illness in the last 3 years then you are not too late to make a claim. If you have been negligently exposed to asbestos then you may be entitled to compensation for that. Find a Solicitor who specialises in this type of work and make arrangements to see them. Most Solicitors provide a free initial interview.
|
|
|
