Worker receives £110k after asbetos exposure
A pensioner has been awarded with a six-figure sum in compensation after he developed cancer from exposure to asbestos, while at work.
The man, who is in his seventies, has received more than £110,000 as a compensation claim.
He spoke about his shock of being diagnosed with mesothelioma earlier this year, as he had previously enjoyed a fit and healthy lifestyle.
He explained: "It was in the summer of 2008 when I began to feel breathless and generally unwell. I visited my GP who referred me to the King George Hospital where they arranged an x-ray, and I was admitted for some fluid to be drained from my chest.
"My consultant found a little further fluid on my lung and I was transferred to St Bart's Hospital in London."
The man who lives in Ilford with his wife and one of his sons, said a biopsy was arranged and some lung tissue was taken for analysis.
Referral for radiotherapy
He continued: "In January I was diagnosed with mesothelioma. I was referred to a cancer specialist and undertook three sessions of radiotherapy. My wife took care of me at home after each of my hospital visits."
Mesothelioma is a painful cancer usually caused by exposure to asbestos fibres. But the man was unsure of how - if ever - his work had led him to come into contact with the substance known as 'the silent killer'.
He said: "I did my National Service in the RAF for 18 months between November 1948 and May 1950. I met my wife when I came home from my National Service, and my first job after that was with a chemical production company. But I was sure I hadn't been exposed to asbestos there."
The man went on to explain that in 1958, he took up a job with the Plessey Company Limited, also based in Ilford.
He said: "There was one short period when I left for about six months, but the new job wasn't for me and I went back to Plesseys. Altogether I was there for more than 25 years."
Lesley Mynett, an industrial disease specialist working with a firm of solicitors, said the man's first role with Plesseys primarily involved issuing tools and materials to the workforce.
Exposure to 50% asbestos equipment
She also stated: "One of these materials was an 'asbestos-replacement' product. It was introduced as an alternative to using asbestos; my client - and many others using it at the time - believed it to be harmless.
"Unfortunately, the product was up to 50 per cent asbestos, and so he was being exposed on a daily basis without any knowledge."
She said that the man would cut sheets of the substance at the request of the machinists and his workspace would be littered with off-cuts of the material.
"It would be delivered in large sheets and his job would be to cut those sheets to fit drawings he'd been supplied with," said Ms Mynett.
She also added: "Working in a small, confined room, he would do this using a handheld hacksaw. This would produce a significant amount of dust, and my client was not provided with any safety mask."
The man moved to the audit department in the company's new Vicarage Lane premises in the late 1960s, but by that time the damage had been done.
"It can take many years after exposure to asbestos before any related disease becomes apparent," Ms Mynett explained.
She concluded by saying: "In my client's case it has taken four decades, but now we have been able to settle his claim for £110,000 without the need for a trial, he and his wife can begin to move on with their lives."
Updated on 23/12/2009