Man died from asbestos induced cancer
A man who was left dying after he developed mesothelioma, the asbestos induced cancer, has been awarded with compensation. This comes after the man was exposed to the deadly dust while he worked on demolishing prefabricated houses.
The man who is from Greater Manchester, passed away at the beginning of July, but fortunately, he was able to live long enough to see his former employer give him an accident claim for the condition he developed through his work.
The man explained that during his work in prefab demolition, “We used to push the asbestos panels out from the roofs and let them drop to the floor. As they dropped they broke up and asbestos dust would be released. We would have that dust around us as we continued to demolish the building.
My employers were merely concerned with the aluminium roofs on the houses. At no stage did they ever warn us of the dangers of the asbestos that we were disturbing. We were never given a mask or alerted to the danger to our health.”
A personal injury lawyer who represented the man, said: “We had a real fight on our hands to succeed in my client’s claim. The defendant’s insurers were determined not to admit that the aluminium prefabricated houses, which were so widely used after the Second World War, contained asbestos.
“They based these arguments on academic texts and as a result they forced a dying man to endure a 12 month legal battle culminating in a trial.
Updated on 03/09/2010