We are pleased to report another successful claim for asbestos disease compensation. We were instructed by our client to pursue a claim for asbestos-related pleural thickening against his previous employer Frederick Singleton & Sons Limited. After arguing his case and obtaining supportive medical evidence from an independent expert, we secured our client compensation in the sum of £18,500. We also reserved the right for him to return to seek further compensation in the future should his asbestos disease deteriorate.
How was our client exposed to asbestos?
Our client worked for Frederick Singleton & Sons Limited between approximately 1966 and 1973/74. He was employed as an apprentice joiner and completed his apprenticeship with the company. He was then taken on as a qualified bench joiner.
The majority of our client’s work involved woodwork. The company did a lot of work for builders, building schools, work in Hull Royal Infirmary, pubs and other buildings. He made and fitted doors, windows, skirting boards, architraves and all general joinery items. Almost all of his time was spent working in the workshop. Between approximately 1971 and 1973, the company did a contract for a firm called Glicksten Doors. The doors were fireproofed with asbestos and our client and his colleagues were required to cut asbestos sheets and cover the doors with the asbestos panels. When they first got the contract, the asbestos panels would come in already cut but very soon after, they would just come in as a standard size and our client would have to cut them as well as fit them to the doors. Our client used an electrical circular saw to cut the asbestos sheets. It was an extremely dusty job and caused clouds of asbestos dust to rise into the air in the workshop as he worked.
Once the asbestos sheets had been cut to size, our client nailed them to the doors with a hammer. He either did this in the machine shop or just outside where there was a small covered area where they kept the timber. This was also dusty work.
It was a big contract for the company and our client estimated that he worked on these doors most weeks from when they got the contract to when he left in approximately 1973. He did work on other contracts and jobs at the same time but this was a regular part of the job.
At the end of a shift, they would sweep up. Sometimes our client would do it or sometimes one of the apprentices would do it whilst they finished up. Either way it was very dusty.
There was no protective work wear provided except a Martindale mask which was a flimsy bit of shaped aluminium with a thin bit of gauze and cotton wool for protection to stop the dust going down your throat. There was an oval shaped cut out for the mouth and a cut away part over the nose. Our client put a fresh bit of cotton wool and gauze in when he started work. He only used the masks when working with the asbestos sheets or occasionally with the woodwork if he was sanding timber.
We were able to prove that our client had suffered negligent exposure to airborne asbestos dust in breach of statutory duty which led to him suffering with asbestos-related pleural disease.
Medical evidence
In further support of the claim, we obtained independent medical evidence from a respiratory consultant. He confirmed that our client had an overall respiratory disability of 15% with 5% being attributed to asbestos-related pleural thickening.
The expert stated that the mild asbestos-related diffuse pleural thickening was likely to remain stable but assessed a 20% risk of some progression with, in that case, perhaps an additional 5% or a maximum of 10% disability during the course of our client’s lifetime. He also assessed a small risk of him developing asbestos-related mesothelioma and said that this would almost certainly prove progressive and life-limiting, were it to develop.
How was the case settled?
In agreeing to settle our client’s claim we agreed that he would be paid an award of immediate damages in the sum of £18,500 plus have the right to return for further compensation in the future should he develop asbestos-related mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer, a serious deterioration of asbestos-related diffuse pleural thickening giving rise to an increase in respiratory disability of more than 15% and/or the development of asbestosis giving rise to an increase in respiratory disability of more than 15%.
This settlement gives our client the peace of mind that he can secure further compensation should his condition deteriorate in the future whilst giving him some compensation now. Any future compensation might assist him with paying for additional care and assistance or private medical treatments not available on the NHS.
If you require assistance in pursuing an asbestos compensation claim for mesothelioma or other asbestos disease then please contact us today on our freephone number 0800 038 6767. Alternatively, head over to the ‘Contact Us’ page, complete the form and we will be in touch.