A septuagenarian electrician is in news after having been denied compensation by the insurer of his employer on the grounds of a decision of the House of Lords to stop compensating cases of pleural plaques. The insurers, despite admitting that the disease of asbestosis was contracted by the employee due to the negligence of the employer, were unwilling to make a payment by extending the principle applied in case of pleural plaques to asbestosis.
In response to the case, Joanne Candlish from Thompsons Solicitors remarked that the case reflects the intention of insurers avoiding to pay by trying to use the said decision even for cases other than pleural plaques. The case is being handled by Unite’s lawyers, Thompsons Solicitors, who reached a conclusion that the disease was contracted due to prolonged exposure to asbestos while Ken Morton worked for Campbell & Isherwood Limited.
However, after the firm took a stance that asbestosis is a different disease from pleural plaques and was a compensatable illness, the insurers agreed to pay up a provisional amount of 5000 pounds. This success will ensure that Morton can pay for treatment for his present illness and disability of 2-3% as well as provide for further compensation, in case his disease becomes worse or he contracts other asbestos related illness in future.
Further, responding to the situation that gave rise to the case Paul Finegan from Unite pointed out that the judgment of House of Lords can be interpreted and extended to work injuries of other types. This enables the insurers to deny liability in cases relating to asbestos linked diseases. Mr. Finegan added that the situation needs to be controlled in its nascent stages as it has the capacity to encourage employers to risk the life and health of workers and in turn escape liability for the same. IOSH courses from Workplace Law Training are designed to give managers and supervisors all they need to know to help handle health and safety in their teams; click on IOSH working safely for more information.