Aston University has pleaded guilty to a charge of breaching the Asbestos Control Regulations. The plea was made before Birmingham Magistrates’ Court with the breach arising from the installation of security cameras at one of the University’s buildings.

 

The University contracted Access Fire and Security Ltd to install the cameras at its recreation centre. The task was undertaken by two skilled workers and one trainee who were exposed to asbestos dust when drilling into wall sheets. The sheets contained asbestos, a deadly mineral with causes lung diseases such as pleural thickening and the cancer mesothelioma.

 

The workers involved will have an anxious wait to discover whether the asbestos fibres they have inhaled will lead to health problems. Others in the vicinity at the time may also be at risk. Currently there is no way of identifying which persons may, in later life, go on to develop problems as a consequence of such exposure. In exceptional cases the period between exposure and manifestation of symptoms can be as little as 10 years but typically it takes several decades for the signs of asbestos disease to appear. Whilst the levels of asbestos involved in this case are low there is unfortunately no safe dose of asbestos. All exposure can lead to mesothelioma, a cancer for which there is no known cure. Larger quantities of asbestos can cause the chronic lung condition asbestosis as well as asbestos lung cancer.  

 

This case highlights the disturbing fact that any building in the UK built on or before 2000 could contain asbestos. Occupiers of buildings, companies, and workers should be vigilant to this issue. Aston University had carried out an asbestos survey but failed to provide it to Access Fire and Security Ltd, had it done this the incident may have been avoided. 

 

Access Fire and Security Ltd also pleaded guilty to the charge which was brought by the Health and Safety Executive. Both it and the university were fined and ordered to pay legal costs for their violation of the regulations.

 

Contact:

 

DX 16023 Halifax

 

About John Pickering and Partners LLP

John Pickering and Partners LLP- Specialist mesothelioma compensation solicitors

 

We are a dedicated personal injury law firm who do not do other types of work.  We specialise in claiming damages for asbestos sufferers. We have been handling compensation claims for industrial disease for over 30 years. Most of our work involves acting for asbestos disease victims who suffer from mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and pleural thickening. We only act for the sufferers of asbestos diseases and never act for the organisations that caused the asbestos exposure or their insurers. We have an ethical approach and donate 10% of our net profits every year to good causes that help asbestos sufferers.  We have set up a charitable trust to help to fund medical research into mesothelioma and various organisations that help and support asbestos sufferers and their families.

 

Find out more about our donations to good causes. We have also been involved in most of the landmark judgments that shape this area of law. Find out more about us or our reported cases. We are on the panels of several asbestos support groups and are ranked highly by legal guides.  Find out more about what others have said about us.

 

John Pickering and Partners LLP is a niche legal practice that has represented Claimants in the leading asbestos "test cases" in the last ten years. The firm represented Sylvia Barker in Barker v Corus (UK) Plc, a case that highlighted the legal tactics of employers and insurers trying to cut back their compensation liabilities to mesothelioma sufferers, and which prompted the amendment of the Compensation Act 2006 to ensure full compensation for mesothelioma claims. The firm represented two of the three Claimants in the landmark Fairchild appeal, in which the insurance industry tried unsuccessfully to block compensation altogether for mesothelioma sufferers unable to identify which of two or more sources of asbestos exposure had caused their illness.

 

The firm represented Alice Jefferson, a mesothelioma sufferer, whose illness and compensation claim against Cape Asbestos were featured in the important documentary "Alice: A Fight For Life." Shown by Yorkshire Television in July 1982, the programme was an important catalyst for legal change and public awareness of the plight of mesothelioma and other asbestos disease sufferers and a prompt for important legal reform.

 

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the lining of certain bodily organs. It most commonly affects the lining of the lungs (the pleura) but it can affect other areas including organs in the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum).

 

More than 2,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year in the UK and there is one mesothelioma death every five hours. The number of deaths from mesothelioma increased from 153 in 1968 to 1,969 in 2004 and is expected to peak at 2,450 between 2011 and 2015. 

 

The first Action Mesothelioma Day was launched on 27th February 2006.  Its objectives were to raise awareness about mesothelioma, to improve the treatment and care of mesothelioma patients, and to lobby for better funding for research into mesothelioma and for the protection and education of people who may be exposed to asbestos.

If you need advice about an asbestos related illness, contact us now for information about making a claim for compensation.

 

Contact us to find out more about your entitlement to claim compensation if you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer or pleural thickening.

 

For more information about asbestos diseases-

www.johnpickering.co.uk

 

For practical information and support concerning mesothelioma-

www.mesothelioma-advice.co.uk

 

For more information about claiming for different types of asbestos disease-

Mesothelioma compensation claims

Lung cancer compensation claims

Asbestosis compensation claims

Pleural thickening compensation claims

 

For more an explanation about different types of asbestos conditions-

Different asbestos conditions

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