Personal Injury Solicitors

A Supreme Court ruling has allowed a mesothelioma victim’s family the right to claim compensation for his illness, even though he did not work directly with asbestos.

The Law Society Gazette reports that the Supreme Court ruled that Percy McDonald – who died in February 2014 – should be awarded compensation as a result of his work as a lorry driver picking up waste materials from Battersea Power Station between 1954 and 1958.

Mr McDonald – from Devon – had argued that, although he did not come into direct contact with asbestos materials, he had entered the area of the power station where asbestos dust was present and would have been exposed to it, so should be entitled to compensation for his illness.

A court in Bristol had dismissed his claim against National Grid Electricity, saying he had only been exposed to a “modest level” of hazardous asbestos dust unlikely to cause any health risk at the power station, which is situated in southwest London.

However, the Court of Appeal allowed his appeal and the defendant then took the case to the Supreme Court.

At the Supreme Court, judges ruled in Mr McDonald’s favour by three to two, ruling that, under the Factories Act 1961, the occupier of the site at Battersea was responsible for all those on the site and not just direct employees.

The ruling also states that asbestos-industry regulations apply to all factories where asbestos is used and not just those in the asbestos industry.

National Grid Electricity had argued that Mr McDonald was not entitled to mesothelioma compensation because he was not employed by the occupier of site at the time he worked there – and had not had direct contact with asbestos during the course of his work as a lorry driver transporting waste materials from the plant.

Lord Kerr said, however, that it was “fallacious” to claim that liability rested on a claimant inhaling a substantial quantity of asbestos dust.

After the hearing, the McDonald family’s legal team said:

“This is a victory for all victims of asbestos-related diseases who have been exposed to deadly dust while visiting factory premises as part of their day-to-day job.

“It also extends the scope of the Factories Act to assist those injured during their work on factory sites.

“It makes perfectly clear that the occupiers of the factory building have responsibility for protecting people engaged in the processes on their site, not just their direct employees.”

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Lawyers – Mesothelioma Claims, Asbestos Claims & Industrial Disease Claims

Duncan Lewis is a leading firm of personal injury lawyers and can advise on how to make no win no fee compensation claims for a wide range of industrial and work-related injuries, including, Asbestos Claims, Mesothelioma Claims, Industrial Disease Claims, and Factory Workers Injured at work Claims.

Personal injury claimants have three years from the date of injury or diagnosis in which to make a no win no fee Mesothelioma Claims or Industrial Disease Claims.

Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors can also advise the families of those who have lost their lives to industrial disease – or whose industrial disease was diagnosed at post-mortem – on how to make no win no fee claims for industrial disease compensation.

For expert legal advice on making no win no fee Mesothelioma Claims, Asbestos Claims & Industrial Disease Claims, call Duncan Lewis personal injury lawyers on 020 7923 4020.