Law Lords Betray Sick Workers

Construction union UCATT have reacted with anger and disgust to the decision of the Law Lords that many workers damaged by asbestos will no longer receive compensation.

The Law Lords ruling concerns workers who develop pleural plaques following exposure to asbestos. Pleural plaques are caused by breathing in asbestos, which leads to scarring of the lungs.

The identification of pleural plaques is associated with an increased risk of developing asbestosis and mesothelioma. Workers diagnosed with pleural plaques experience severe mental anguish as they realise that they could develop a slow painful disease leading to death.

The decision to bar payments for pleural plaques overturns 20 years of compensation being available. It will save insurers of companies who wilfully exposed their workforce to asbestos, despite knowing the risks, hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Alan Ritchie, general secretary of construction union UCATT, said: “This is a disgraceful decision. Workers diagnosed with pleural plaques suffer the mental anguish of knowing that they have been given a potential death sentence. Many of these cases were entirely preventable. Businesses knew the risks but decided to play fast and loss with workers lives. The courts are letting them get away with their recklessness”

Last year 2,000 people in Britain developed mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a incurable form of lung cancer.