MCP Solicitors' Guide to Industrial Disease

1. We guarantee you will receive 100% of your compensation if your claim is successful

2. We guarantee if your claim is unsuccessful you pay nothing.

3. We are committed to client care. We will:

• Provide you with an efficient and sympathetic service
• Give you clear advice at each stage of the case
• Ensure you are kept fully informed on a regular basis
• Achieve the best compensation settlement possible on your behalf
  
  

4. We work closely with fellow professionals e.g. medical experts, engineers and care consultants to ensure you obtain the best possible service.

5. We provide a free representation service at inquests for the relatives of someone who has died as a result of an industrial disease or workplace accident.

Certain benefits are available to those suffering from prescribed diseases, which include:

• Mesothelioma
• Asbestosis
• Bilateral diffuse pleural thickening
• Lung cancer
• Allergic rhinitis
• Occupational asthma
• Occupational deafness
• Vibration White Finger
• Tenosynovitis
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
  

Please note the above list is not exhaustive.

Benefits include:

• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
• Disability Living Allowance
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance
• Benefits under the Worker's Compensation Scheme
• Benefits under the Pneumoconiosis Byssinosis and Miscellaneous Diseases Benefit Scheme
  

Leaflets are available from your local DWP office. Further details can be obtained by contacting the Benefit Enquiry Line on 0800 88 2200.

An industrial respiratory disease results in the loss of full lung function which can produce disability, particularly breathing problems.

There are many types of respiratory disease including:

• Pneumoconiosis, including silicosis and asbestosis
• Occupational asthma
  • This is commonly caused by exposure to allergens such as wood dust, baker's dough, solder flux and isocyanates (used in the manufacture of adhesives and paints).
  • Workers with the highest incidents of occupational asthma include bakers, flour confectioners, spray painters and welders.
• Emphysema
• Chronic Obstructive Airways Disease
  

This is a condition that affects the arms, hands, wrists, fingers or thumbs and is related to or contributed to by exposure to vibration.

HAVS/VWF is often found in people who have used hand held or vibratory tools such as a jack hammer. It is a slowly progressive condition, the development and severity of which is affected by the degree of exposure, in particular the magnitude, frequency, duration and transmission of the vibration.

Symptoms include blanching or numbness of the fingers and pins and needles and can result in reduced dexterity of the fingers and hand. Damage is caused to the vascular system resulting in thickening of the wall of the small arteries and may cause damage to the nerves of the hand. Symptoms are similar to Raynaud's phenomenon which is a constitutional condition.

Once symptoms of VWF develop the problem will only deteriorate if a worker continues to use vibratory tools. Once the use of vibratory tools has stopped then the condition may further slightly deteriorate but then, after a twelve to eighteen month period following the use of vibratory tools, if the condition has further deteriorated the symptoms may be due to a non work-related condition.

In order to successfully pursue a claim it must also be established that the worker was exposed to negligent levels of vibration, contrary to The Control of Vibrations at Work Regulations 2005.

HAVS Screening Ltd
The Coach House
16 Chapman Street
Sheffield
S9 1RG
01142 560408

Occupational skin diseases often result from exposure to chemical irritants, such as solvents and cleaning fluids. The occupations at highest risk are often barbers, hairdressers and operatives involved in manufacture of cleaning agents, cement, mineral oils and soaps.

Dermatitis is the most common form of occupational skin disease. The symptoms are irritation of the skin causing redness, blotching and sometimes blistering.

It mainly affects the hands but other parts of the body may be affected and occurs due to the penetration of the epidermis of the skin by an external substance which either irritates or sensitises the living skin cells.

The two most common dermatitis conditions are:

• Irritant contact dermatitis. This arises as a consequence of skin cell damage following exposure to a particular substance.
• Allergic contact dermatitis. This arises due to the sensitisation of the victim to relevant substances which are also allergens.

Often sensitisation arises as a result of only one exposure and is difficult to control once it develops.

Industrial deafness is defined as "the permanent loss of hearing caused by exposure to industrial noise in a worker's employment."

Excessive noise in the workplace may lead to tinnitus, a condition which causes ringing, whistling, buzzing and humming in the ears/head with no external source.

Workers who are at particular risk include those in heavy productive industry e.g. metal workers, drilling and quarrying, stone cutting and using noisy machinery as in transportation, agriculture, textiles and printing.

The Noise at Work Regulations impose duties on employers to protect their employees from excessive noise levels and damage to hearing from exposure to loud noise is preventable.

There may be a noise problem if people need to shout or have difficulty being heard by a colleague about two metres away.

Where a worker remains in a pre-defined area that contains a relatively steady noise level, all day and every day, it is easy to quantify the noise exposure but it is more difficult to establish the noise levels for workers who move from one noisy environment to another.

The onus is on the employer to undertake adequate noise monitoring in the workplace and to provide suitable and adequate personal protective equipment to employees.

British Tinnitus Association: 0800 018 0527

These conditions, which may also be referred to as work-related upper limb disorders, occur in many industries, especially those where rapid twisting and gripping movements of the hand are common e.g. assembly-line work, packing, trimming of vegetables, evisceration and trussing of poultry.

The symptoms are pain and local tenderness in the wrist, tingling and/or numbness in the fingers and discomfort over either the inner or outer aspect of the elbow.

Common conditions are tenosynovitis, De Quervain's syndrome, epicondylitis (tennis or golfer's elbow), trigger finger and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Some of the above conditions are present in the non-working population and a link between the work processes and the onset of the disease must be established if a claim is to succeed.

Asbestos is the name given to a number of naturally occurring silicates which exist in fibrous form. It was frequently used in the 1960s and 1970s in mining, construction and shipbuilding because it was non-flammable, flexible and low heat-conducting. It was considered the ideal material for use in insulation, brake linings, gaskets, cement and fire-proofing.

There are two main types of asbestos fibres which have different chemical compositions and physical properties namely:

• Amphibole: these are straight, stiff fibres and found in blue asbestos (crocidolite) used mainly in the textile industry and brown asbestos (amosite) use mainly for insulation.
• Serpentine: these are curly fibres and are more easily chemically and physically degraded in the lung tissue. The only serpentine used commercially, mainly in the textile and building industries, is known as white asbestos (chrysotile).

These differences probably account for the greater potency of amphiboles in causing disease.

Some people who develop mesothelioma may not recall working with the material, but may have been exposed to asbestos dust by other means, such as washing a relative's overalls covered in asbestos dust, or living close to a place where it was used.

It may be difficult to remember where and when the exposure to asbestos dust occurred and it may not be possible to trace the company where you worked and/or their insurer.

Please note you should contact us as there are alternatives to claiming against previous employers where you are unable to recover damages from them e.g. under the Pneumoconiosis Etc (Workers Compensation) Act 1979 the Department of Work and Pensions may award a "no fault" civil compensation payment. However, these payments are not as generous as awards made in a civil action.

Asbestos fibres are tiny and needle-like in shape. It is their shape and size, not chemical composition that causes major health problems and the fibres most likely to damage health can be less than one thousandth of a millimetre in diameter.

It is the release of these fibres from products containing asbestos that creates a serious hazard to health and once in the air, the fibres are easily inhaled or swallowed.

All asbestos is hazardous to health but blue and brown asbestos are the most potent and their use in the UK has been banned since 1985. White asbestos was only banned in the UK in 1999.

Asbestos remains in many industrial and domestic buildings and equipment and if disturbed the asbestos can become airborne.

However, provided that the asbestos is well maintained and covered by an impermeable layer of paint and/or other material preventing any dust from being released, it does not present any hazard to health. It is only the inhalation of loose asbestos fibres which causes disease.

The earlier the asbestos-related disease is diagnosed, the better the condition can be monitored or treated, X-rays, scans and lung function tests can monitor its progression.

This is a cancer of the lining of the lung (pleural mesothelioma), the lining of the abdomen (peritoneal mesothelioma) or heart (pericardial mesothelioma).

The disease can take twenty to fifty years (or even longer) to develop. It is almost always due to asbestos exposure. It causes significant disability and is resistant to therapy although new drugs are now available to relieve symptoms e.g. Alimta.

Mesothelioma is a prescribed disease entitling the victim to industrial injury benefit.

This condition develops when asbestos fibres lodge in the lungs and cause inflammation. As the inflammation heals, it leaves scar tissue so that the delicate tissues of the lungs begin to lose their elasticity. This process is termed "fibrosis" and results in the lungs losing ability to deliver oxygen to the blood.

The disease often causes "clubbing" of the fingers and abnormal chest sounds termed "crackles".

Asbestosis develops in people who have been heavily exposed to asbestosis e.g. miners, workers in asbestos factories, and workers who handle building and insulation materials.

The period from first exposure to development of the disease is rarely less than ten years and often much longer.

Asbestosis increases the risk of developing lung cancer.

Asbestosis is a prescribed disease entitling the victim to industrial injury benefit.

The "pleura" is a two-layered membrane which surrounds the lungs and lines the inside of the ribcage. Some asbestos fibres inhaled into the lungs may work their way out to the pleura and may cause it to thicken, leading to restriction in the expansion of the lungs. This can cause pain and breathlessness but is not in itself life threatening.

The disease can develop even after short exposure to asbestos.

It is a prescribed disease and if lung cancer develops this is considered attributable to the asbestos exposure for the purpose of industrial injury benefit.

No compensation is currently available to victims who suffer with symptom-less pleural thickening.

Exposure to asbestos increases the risk of lung cancer and lung tumours are more common in people who smoke and who have worked with asbestos in the past. Those who have been exposed to asbestos can greatly reduce the risk of lung cancer by not smoking.

This is the least serious form of asbestos-related diseases. "Plaques" are scars in the lining of the lung, which can become calcified (hardened) over time. Usually, they cause no symptoms at all, and the victim is only aware they have plaques when an X-ray is undertaken, often for an unrelated illness.

The plaques usually occur in victims who have had substantial exposure usually twenty years or more after first exposure.

Plaques are not life threatening. In January 2006 the Court of Appeal ruled that compensation should no longer be payable for symptom-less pleural plaques.

Whatever your illness the priority is to ensure you obtain the best possible treatment and care from medical and other professionals and we aim to form a key part of your support network.

One issue that you will need to deal with as soon as possible will be to seek legal advice as time may be of the essence.

Unfortunately we cannot turn the clock back but we can do everything in our power to ensure your case is conducted smoothly and that you receive all the compensation, care and ongoing assistance you are entitled to.

If an early admission of liability is obtained it is possible to claim some of the money before a final settlement is awarded. This is known as an interim payment and is intended to help deal with extra expenses such as medical treatment, aids, adaptations etc. and assist in paying the bills if you can no longer work.

If you are at risk of developing a further asbestos related illness in the future we will advise whether or not you should claim a provisional award which would enable you to make a further claim or whether in your particular circumstances you should settle on a full and final basis.

Claims for compensation in cases relating to asbestos are generally not straightforward and often the company responsible for the exposure has gone out of business or cannot be traced. Typically the exposure to asbestos dust has taken place twenty years or more before the Claimant first notices symptoms.

Compensation may include, in addition to an award for the disease itself, the following:

• Loss of earnings for the remainder of your life
• The cost of medical assistance and personal care
• The cost of maintaining or adapting your home and garden
• Additional transport costs
• Dependency claim

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has an informative website for workers currently at greatest risk from exposure to asbestos, employers and asbestos contractors with duties under the Asbestos Regulations.

The Asbestos Removal Contractors Association (ARCA)
ARCA House
237 Branstone Road
Burton on Trent
Staffs
DE14 3BT
01283 531126

Occupational and Environmental Diseases Association (OEDA)
PO Box 26
Enfield
Middlesex
EN1 2NT
020 8360 8490

Mesothelioma UK
National Macmillan Mesothelioma Resources Centre
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
Glenfield Hospital
Groby Road
Leicester
LE3 9QP
0800 169 2409

British Lung Foundation
73-75 Groswell Road
London
EC1V 7ER
08458 505020

Department for Work and Pensions
Pneumoconiosis Worker's Compensation Scheme
Phoenix House
Stephen Street
Barrow in Furness
Cumbria
LA14 1BY
0800 279 2322