At Asbestos Justice we raise awareness of the continuing legacy left behind by asbestos, a dangerous and life-threatening substance. We believe it is important to raise as much awareness as possible, so we involve ourselves in charity events and frequently report on asbestos-related news. Below we demonstrate how it can take as little as 60 seconds to raise awareness about asbestos.
How can you raise awareness?
Recently, we demonstrated that even talking about asbestos and its effects for 60 seconds can open a dialogue.
This week, Helena Cameron, one of our specialist asbestos disease solicitors, attended a local networking meeting with Business Network International (BNI). BNI is the world’s biggest referral marketing organisation and has local groups across the UK. Asbestos Justice is a trading style of Oliver & Co Solicitors, who have joined a local BNI chapter and attend meetings every week.
At these meetings we interact with businessmen and women from a variety of different backgrounds, trades, and professions. Importantly, at each meeting every member gives a 60-second presentation about an area of their business.
The Presentation:
Helena Cameron gave the following presentation this week in an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of asbestos:
“Hi, I’m Helena Cameron, an Industrial Disease Solicitor at Oliver & Co. Industrial disease claims include asbestos diseases, industrial disease, and vibration white finger. We specialise in asbestos disease claims, a niche area. People develop asbestos disease years after exposure – on average 30 to 50 years.
Mesothelioma is a cancer purely associated with asbestos. Sadly, there is no cure for mesothelioma, and inhaling just one fibre of asbestos is enough to cause it.
We deal with many cases for workers but also environmental claims. For example, wives washing their husbands’ overalls. I dealt with a case where a husband worked with asbestos daily and always came home covered in asbestos. He was fine. However, his wife tragically developed mesothelioma.
We also dealt with a tragic case for a 21 year old exposed when his father hugged him as a baby when he returned from work covered in asbestos.
Asbestos is mined from the ground. Used widely in construction, some of the more unknown uses are toothpaste, cigarette filters, and special effects on film sets. For example, the snow in the film ‘White Christmas’ was made from asbestos. Hollywood star Steve McQueen died from mesothelioma.
Lots of buildings still contain asbestos, including most schools. Asbestos was only fully banned in the UK in 1999. A recent example of an asbestos-filled building is Grenfell Tower.
Our Asbestos Justice website has lots of information about asbestos and asbestos diseases – please take a look.”
Conclusion:
We are happy to say that even this short account lead to several enquiries from the group. Firstly, a member who had a friend with an asbestos disease asked for advice. Secondly, a florist/events manager asked a question. They had come across people affected by asbestos disease when helping to plan funerals and asked for some leaflets that they could hand out.
By raising awareness of asbestos and its affects we hope to be able to help more people in the future. Raising awareness means that more people are likely to know that they can claim compensation. Furthermore, it may also mean that more people donate towards organisations who are leading the fight against cancer.
How can we help?
If you require assistance in pursuing an asbestos-related mesothelioma compensation claim or other asbestos related disease please contact us today. You can contact us by calling our freephone number: 0800 038 6767. Alternatively, you can head over to our contact us page, complete the form and we will be in touch.