Asbestos Justice dealt with a successful claim for mesothelioma compensation for Mrs B who sadly lost her husband in February of 2013.
Before he sadly passed, Mr B he spoke to his son about his asbestos exposure which occurred during the course of his work at the East Lancashire Paper Mill Company Ltd. He worked for the company as a process worker at their mill in Radcliffe between 1966/1967 and 1970/1971 approximately. Mr B made his son aware that during the course of the time he spent working at the mill, he recalled seeing a vast amount of steam pipes leading from boilers as the mill was steam powered. All of the pipes and boilers were lagged with a form of asbestos lagging which was used for heat insulation purposes.
Exposure to asbestos
Whilst Mr B never had cause to remove or apply asbestos materials himself in his work as a paper manufacturing process worker, he was regularly nearby when other workers had cause to remove and apply the material, especially during periods of maintenance. Specifically, he could remember seeing fitters and maintenance men having cause to repair sections of damaged pipework.
In order to access the pipes underneath the lagging, the insulation material would have to be removed. The Mr B explained to his son that the workers would use chisels and other types of tools to remove the asbestos lagging which was essentially set over the pipework and boilers. As they removed the asbestos materials, much asbestos dust would be released into the general atmosphere which he and his colleagues could not help but inhale.
Mr B explained to his son that clouds of asbestos dust would be present around the mill, especially during periods of maintenance. Whilst the asbestos removal work could take place on a continuous basis during periods of maintenance, there would also be regular instances of asbestos materials being removed on an ad-hoc basis as and when repairs were necessary.
Mr B explained to his son that he was never provided with any form of respiratory protection during the course of the time he spent working at the paper mill. The asbestos lagging would regularly cover the mill floor and as he and his colleagues walked through it, the asbestos dust would rise up again into the atmosphere which he could not help but inhale. His father also explained that the asbestos lagging was often in a damaged and brittle state. He explained that he could see the fibrous material breaking away which resulted in some asbestos fibres floating around in the general atmosphere which all workers inhaled throughout the course of the working day.
His father explained to him that coming into contact with asbestos in these ways was a regular occurrence during the course of the time he spent working for the paper mill. He was never warned of the dangers of being exposed to asbestos materials when working for this company.
Tracing insurers
Asbestos Justice managed to locate employer’s liability insurance for the paper mill and it was argued that this passive exposure to asbestos resulted in him developing asbestos related mesothelioma in later life and negligent exposure was conceded by the Defendant.
However, there were problems in this case in that the pathologist at post mortem concluded that Mr B did not pass away due to mesothelioma even though this asbestos related cancer was diagnosed by way of biopsy during his lifetime. Asbestos justice secured medical evidence which cast considerable doubt on the conclusions reached by the pathologist, which ultimately improved prospects of recovering mesothelioma compensation for Mrs B following her tragic loss.
A successful win
The Defendant eventually accepted the view expressed in the medical evidence that Mr B did in fact pass away due to mesothelioma and the case settled shortly thereafter for £158,000.00 in total. Even though the pathologist’s views caused problems in this case, the matter still settled within a 12 month period for Mrs B.