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Victims forgotten in asbestos fight
COURTS can only make judgments according to the law and, on that basis, the House of Lords was justified in deciding employers do not have to compensate workers diagnosed with pleural plaques.
Whatever the legal position, though, the individuals involved continue to have a moral case for help, a fact implicitly recognised by the Government's new inquiry.
It cannot be fair that someone with a condition which could lead to serious illness and death should be excluded from asking for help, particularly when others with debatable claims backed by no-win no-fee legal advice are frequently winning large payouts.
Pleural plaques itself is often symptomless. However, when someone discovers they have this condition they must also contend with the dreadful possibility they may go on to develop mesothelioma.
The absurd application of health and safety regulations have earned them a bad name but they exist to protect people from suffering injury simply by going to work, which is precisely the case here. Yet, decades after the dangers of asbestos to health first became apparent, individuals and their families who have suffered continue to find their simple plea for justice bogged down in prolonged and complex legal actions.
The number of workers affected mean the potential sums of money involved are so high that it is worthwhile for every company facing a claim, or more likely their insurers, to challenge it in the courts on any grounds available. The length of time involved also frequently means the firms involved have gone out of business or been taken over.
This merry-go-round suits all those involved except the very people who matter the most, those who have been affected who face a race against time to secure compensation. If the Government's intervention is to be meaningful, it must bring this courtroom drama to an end.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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