Published: Friday, 7th March, 2008 16:30
Deadly asbestos legacy
By Frank Maguire
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FOR more than half a century, Inverclyde owed much of its prosperity to the shipbuilding industry.
But the prosperity came at a terrible price — the deadly legacy of asbestos exposure. Shipyard workers were regularly covered in asbestos dust, which can often cause fatal cancers such as mesothelioma. But asbestos exposure takes anything from 10 to 40 years to manifest itself, and after that length of time many of those affected have no idea who they were working for when they were contaminated. Also, the companies that employed them may have ceased to exist.
It sounds like a hopeless situation, because for any compensation claim to succeed, the claimant has to establish who was responsible and take action against them or their insurers.
However, legal firms, such as Thompsons, which specialises in asbestos cases, can invariably track down the employers who exposed their clients and, even more crucially, the insurers involved.
We even have a full database of witnesses who might remember a victim or who may have worked in the same place or for the same company.
We liaise closely with Clydeside Action on Asbestos, the leading campaigning group representing sufferers and their families.
So, if you think there is no point in making a claim, because it all happened so long ago, think again. No matter how vague your information, those responsible can be traced and held to account for their actions.
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