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Posts Tagged ‘Asbestos Related Disease’

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Electrician faced with asbestos ’snowstorm’ in power station job

A RETIRED electrician died as a result of being repeatedly placed at the centre of an asbestos “snowstorm” during his working life.

Grandfather-of-two Ian Stanford lost his fight against pneumonia at the age of 76.

An inquest heard he worked at Willington Power Station between 1959 and 1993 and looked after all electrical aspects of the plant, including shutting down boilers and turbines for maintenance.

The once-yearly task involved him removing lagging and asbestos material surrounding the equipment.

A report by pathologist Dr Andrew Hitchcock said the nature of the work led to Mr Stanford’s death on February 11, at Royal Derby Hospital.

In a statement, Mr Stanford had said the task left him in an asbestos “snowstorm” that turned the room into a “fog”.

He wrote: “During this period there would be a huge amount of asbestos dust floating around.

April 23, 2012 8:12 am - Posted by Asbestos News  | Comments ( 0 )
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Asbestos legal claim goes up to House of Lords

THE widow of an ex-headteacher who died from asbestos exposure is urging the House of Lords to stand fast after the Government refused to exempt victims from legal costs.

Marie Hughes watched husband Phil die from cancer after coming into contact with asbestos at Brymbo Steelworks in his younger years.

The Government voted against some amendments to its controversial Legal Aid bill to exempt asbestos victims paying the costs, despite rebel Tories and Lib Dems voting the other way last week.

It will again come before the House of Lords tonight for further debate and could be sent back to the Commons if the peers are not satisfied.

Mr Hughes was a former of headteacher of Tanyfron School, near Wrexham, and died, aged 57, in 2005.

Mrs Hughes, of Coed-y Glyn, Wrexham, said if they’d had to worry about the financial implications of trying to press for a claim without legal aid, they might not have bothered.

“I was very disappointed the bill went through in the Government vote on Monday,” she said. “But I did take heart that there were Liberal Democrat and Conservative MPs who could not vote with the Government.

“It is now going back to the House of Lords and I would urge them not to pass this through, back what they backed, and send it back to the House of Commons where hopefully more will reject it.”

8:10 am - Posted by Asbestos News  | Comments ( 0 )
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Thousands Of Terminally Ill Workers Will Die Before Receiving Compensation

Thousands of terminally ill workers will die before getting the compensation they deserve because of delays to a new law aimed at addressing the problem, a legal expert has said.

The “disgraceful” wait for the legislation being implemented, which will see insurance companies benefit while victims suffer, has been blamed on a lack of funds by the Ministry of Justice.

In 2010 the law was changed to make it easier for ex-employees to sue for damages but it has not been brought into force, and a report says it will not come into effect until next year at the earliest.

Almost 5,000 people a year die from asbestos-related diseases and compensation expert Chris Shaw, a Newcastle-based solicitor, said: “It’s disgraceful because they are terminally sick and they need that money.

“Insurance companies are the only ones profiting from the delay.”

The Third Party (Rights Against Insurers) Act was passed in 2010 to make it easier for claimants to sue if their former employers have gone out of business.

April 17, 2012 10:02 am - Posted by Asbestos News  | Comments ( 0 )
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Many Barking and Dagenham victims lose out on asbestos case victory

Families of people who contracted asbestos-related cancers may have won their long fight for compensation but there are fears that some sufferers of a related disease may never even have the chance to claim.

Last week the Supreme Court ruled that insurance liability was triggered when employees were exposed to asbestos as opposed to when symptoms occurred.

But Jimmy Parish, president of the Dagenham GMB laggers branch, said those who have suffered from pleural plaques – an asbestos-related illness – may not benefit.

He said: “If you are diagnosed with pleural plagues, you may never get a chance to make a claim anything until you’re dead.

“I come from a family where all my uncles and my dad died of asbestosis. I’m one of many.”

In 2007, the House of Lords ruled that people who had been exposed to asbestos could no longer claim compensation for pleural plaques, often a precursor for mesothelioma or asbestosis.

However, by the time the more serious conditions appear, it is often too late to benefit from any claim.

10:00 am - Posted by Asbestos News  | Comments ( 0 )
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Wrexham wife’s asbestos legal fee plea to Government

A WIFE who lost her husband to asbestos poisoning urged the Government to exempt victims from paying legal costs ahead of a crucial vote.

Marie Hughes watched her husband Phil die a tragic and debilitating death of cancer after coming into contact with the toxic substance at Brymbo Steelworks in his younger years.

Mr Hughes was a former of headteacher of Tanyfron School, near Wrexham, and died at the age of 57 in 2005.

Tomorrow the Government will go through a series of votes on amendments to its controversial Legal Aid Bill which is looking to save millions of pounds.

Part of the legislation, which is being resisted by a proposed amendment, is to make victims of asbestos mesothelioma pay for any legal aid through damages received.

Mrs Hughes, of Coed-y-Glyn, Wrexham, said: “He underwent gruelling, unrelenting and debilitating courses of chemotherapy, intensive radiotherapy and invasive surgery in the form of an EPP (extra pleural pneumonectomy) which involves the removal of a complete lung, half the pericardium and half the diaphragm.

“He lived in constant pain.ŠAll this was a vain attempt to improve the quality and to extend his life.

“The court hearing was pending during the time of my husband’s major surgery.”

April 16, 2012 9:56 am - Posted by Asbestos News  | Comments ( 0 )
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Asbestos workers at risk of heart disease and damaged lungs

Workers exposed to asbestos as part of their job are at a significantly greater risk of heart disease and stroke than the general population with women more likely to be affected than men, new research has found.

It is already well known that asbestos workers are prone to serious lung disease, such as mesothelioma and asbestosis, as a direct result of their exposure to asbestos fibres.

In the latest study scientists analysed the cause of death among nearly 100,000 asbestos workers taking part in regular voluntary health monitoring and answering questions on levels of exposure for the Asbestos Workers Survey.

Warning: Those working around asbestos are more prone to heart attacks

Most of the men taking part in the survey worked in asbestos removal while most of the women worked in manufacturing.

More than half of the men (58%) and women (52%) were smokers at the time of their first medical examination, proportions which had fallen only slightly (55% and 49%) at the time of their last.

April 3, 2012 8:07 am - Posted by Asbestos News  | Comments ( 0 )
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Primary school evacuated after killer asbestos discovered in walls

Asbestos in SchoolsAsbestos has been found in the interior of Flora Stevenson Primary School.

A primary school in Scotland will be closed until at least Monday after asbestos was found in the building.

Pupils at Edinburgh’s Flora Stevenson Primary School, in Stockbridge area, were evacuated in mid-morning yesterday after the substance was discovered in the walls during routine work. The asbestos had apparently been disturbed whilst builders were installing a new door.

Parents were contacted via text message to collect their children from Broughton High School where the 447 pupils were evacuated too.

Mike Rosendale, the council’s head of schools, said that a “small quantity of asbestos” had been disturbed, but that the health and safety of pupils was of “paramount importance”, so the decision had been taken to evacuate all pupils as a precaution.

The school’s nursery, which is housed in a separate building, remained open. Following a further inspection of the building, Mr Rosendale, said last night that the property had been deemed safe to re-enter:

“An independent inspection was carried out this afternoon and has indicated that the building is safe. A full clean will now take place with the aim of re-opening the school on Monday.

March 16, 2012 9:22 am - Posted by Asbestos News  | Comments ( 0 )
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Asbestos alert for protesters in Bradford Odeon campaign

The discovery of high levels of asbestos in one of Bradford’s best known buildings, the former Odeon Cinema, has led to urgent action being taken.

Asbestos Awareness

Asbestos Awareness

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), the organisation responsible for the city centre buildings; say they have been concerned about the structural integrity of the dilapidated building which has been unoccupied for several years.

Specialist consultants have been commissioned to carry out a survey of potential risk from asbestos in the building. They have said that the structure has deteriorated even further as well as “very high” levels of asbestos in the building.

The asbestos does not pose a risk unless it has been disturbed however, the HCA have warned people whom might have entered the building recently without appropriate precautions to get in touch.

A well-supported campaign that have been running for several years to save the building, along with many other people whom have entered the building without authorisation in a bid to disprove claims that the building was beyond repair.

March 9, 2012 9:03 am - Posted by Asbestos News  | Comments ( 0 )
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Asbestos victims denied compensation

A group of lawyers have claimed that hundreds of asbestosis sufferers across Britain are dying without proper compensation due to government inaction.

The not-for-profit-campaign group Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) show that mesothelioma, an asbestos related disease, was recorded as the underlying cause of 177 deaths in Scotland in 2010 compared with 147 death is 2006 and 140 in 2007.

Many victims of the deadly asbestos-related disease cannot claim compensation as they can no longer trace the employer who exposed them to it, insurance documents might also be lost or destroyed.

The government pledged to establish the “fund of last resort” in 2010, this fund would act as a safety net for those whom are unable to obtain compensation.

APIL president David Bott said:

“The government proposed to set up a fund of last resort shortly before the general election, but almost two years has now passed and nothing has been heard about it since. “

He went onto say:

March 8, 2012 9:29 am - Posted by Asbestos News  | Comments ( 0 )
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Ship Worker dies from industrial disease

Working with asbestos on ships in the 1950s caused an 82 year-old man’s death.

On December 16, last year, Ronald Kennedy of High Street in Theale, died. Ronald was suffering from malignant mesothelioma.

Deputy coroner for Berkshire, Ravi Sidhu, read a statement made by Mr. Kennedy before his death, the statement was for a civil court case in relation to working with asbestos.

In the statement Mr. Kennedy explains how he worked with asbestos aboard ships for 56 hours a week and slept in an engine room.

Reading his statement, Mr. Sidhu said:

“I can’t recall where the asbestos lagging on board the ships came from, but I can recall that moving of the asbestos would be performed.”

He went onto say:

“I’d then have to apply it to various pipes – mix asbestos powder with water and apply it as a paste.”

March 7, 2012 8:47 am - Posted by Asbestos News  | Comments ( 0 )
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Death of former teacher calls for removal of asbestos in schools

After the death of a Leamington teacher, a teaching union is calling for asbestos to be removed from all schools.

The teacher whom died from asbestos related disease was in her 50s and had worked at North Leamington School.

The teaching union said she had done most of her teaching at the school’s former buildings which were demolished in 2009. The buildings were demolished to make way for a new building on the same site.

Most of the school buildings were constructed in the 1950s, when asbestos was commonly used in buildings.

An inquest after the teacher’s death in December recorded a verdict of death from an industrial disease.

Health and safety inspectors are not investigating the death, they say it is impossible to tell whether the disease was caused by exposure to asbestos at North Leamington School, another school, or away from school altogether.

March 6, 2012 8:52 am - Posted by Asbestos News  | Comments ( 0 )
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Asbestos death rate well above average in Eastbourne

ASBESTOS related deaths in Eastbourne are well above the national average, according to new statistics.

The figures have been obtained by not-for-profit campaign group the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL).

The research shows from 2006 to the end of 2010, mesothelioma, a terminal cancer of the lung wall, was recorded as the underlying cause of 30 deaths in Eastbourne. It is the equivalent to four deaths in 100,000 people.

The average for England and Wales during the same period was 2.5.

APIL president David Bott said, “More people die of mesothelioma in Eastbourne per head of the population than in most other parts of the country.

“This is bad enough, but the number of men dying from this disease is expected to peak during the next five years and what many people don’t realise is that hundreds of sufferers across the UK cannot get the compensation they need to help them through the last days of their life.

“What is needed is for the Government to bring forward proposals for a fund of last resort which would act as a safety net for injured workers who are otherwise unable to pursue the justice they deserve.”

March 5, 2012 9:12 am - Posted by Asbestos News  | Comments ( 0 )
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Rail worker surrounded by ‘cloud of asbestos’

An investigation on a former British Rail coach builder has heard how he would sit and eat his lunch surrounded by a cloud of asbestos.

92 years old, William Edmonds, died, after his health deteriorated decades after his exposure to deadly dust. An inquest at Derby and South Derbyshire Coroner’s Court heard that Mr. Edmonds worked at the Osmaston Road site for most of his working life.

He took 5 years out during the Second World War, when he was stationed in the 8th Army in Egypt.

Mr. Edmonds son, Keith, told the inquest that his father worked with asbestos as part of his job of repairing carriages.

Keith said:

“One of my father’s team recalled that they used to sweep up the area of the coach they were working on before taking a break.”

He went onto say:

“Then they would sit in and near the area where you could clearly see asbestos in the air.”

8:41 am - Posted by Asbestos News  | Comments ( 0 )
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