Case Studies

The Health risks from Asbestos were identified by Plingy the elder around 2000 years ago when he recorded that people working with asbestos died much younger than other workers.In the uk they have been well know since the 1930's and as more research is carried out the range of diseases increases.

Around 4000 people a year die of asbestos related diseases, thats 1 every 2.5 hours of every day.

In a recent paper by Professor Julian Peto of Oxford University, the predictions for 2025 are 16,000 per annum.

Asbestos related deaths

Case 1

A 35 year old man died of Mesothelioma, the youngest recorded death from this disease. When he was a baby his father would come in from work and pick up the boy and play with him. His father was wearing his work clothes and he worked in a power station.

Case 2

A headteacher in a Carlisle school, died on christmas day 2005 of mesothelioma. He had been a teacher all of his working life.

There are many thousands of cases of people with direct or  indirect contact with asbestos from all walks of life but the majority come from the building trades.

Companies in Court.

Cases of companies being prosecuted are on the increase and it is interesting to note that a number of these cannot use ignorance as an excuse as they have already acknowledge that Asbestos is a problem.

Case 1

Oct 2010: John Lewis the high street retailer face huge fines after it was revealed that they failed to carry out the proper safety checks prior to carrying out refurbishment of their Edinburgh premises. It led to 15 construction workers being potentially being exposed to asbestos.

Case 2

Aug 2010: Arndale Centre Manchester 

Eastern Regional Shopfitters were prosecuted after ignoring a report stating asbestos was present in a shop where they were working. Two employees and three Arndale management staff were potentially exposed. £7215. 

Case3

Ron Crouch Building contractors  of Pontypool were prosecuted for carrying out unlicensed asbestos removal works while replacing a boiler in a domestic property. £3750

Case 4

Interserve(Defence) were fined in Sept 2010, £33,000 for breaches of the Asbestos regulations at the MOD base in Arncott, Biscester. They were also ordered to pay 17,936 in costs.