Powertrain Limited, the engine building division of MG Rover, has agreed to pay compensation to 79 of its workers who developed occupational asthma or extrinsic allergic alveolitis as a result of their exposure to metalworking fluids at their plant in Longbridge near Birmingham.

Each worker received compensation varying from £500 to £180,000 in an out of court settlement.

The employees union, Unite, had complained for years about the conditions which workers were being made to endure but until 2004 the HSE had not investigated. 

At the time of their investigation, the HSE discovered that 12% of staff at the plant had developed either occupational asthma, extrinsic allergic alveolitis or both as a result of the conditions at the plant. 

The cause of the illness was thought to be a mist created by metalworking machines which had not been controlled effectively and had allowed bacteria to build up as well as allowing other potentially harmful substances to be released into the atmosphere.  Experts instructed on behalf of the employees said that MG Rover had failed to carry out risks assessments to ensure employees were protected. 

Unite's John Walsh said: 'I am delighted that after a seven-year legal battle our members have now received compensation that has been owed to them since they suffered ill-health back in 2003/04; it is a pity that it has taken this long.'

Dr Alistair Robertson, from the Birmingham chest clinic, said: "Some of these workers were severely disabled and about to go into a no-pay situation.”

"They were very breathless even with minimum exertion and needed high doses of steroids.”

As a result of the HSE investigations, the Government allowed those suffering with extrinsic allergic alveolitis to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit, a weekly benefit paid to those suffering from industrial diseases such as asthma, asbestosis or mesothelioma.  Previously those who developed extrinsic allergic alveolitis were not entitled to claim this benefit.    

Sandra Caldwell from the HSE said: "The HSE investigation has been long and thorough, and we now know that the cause of the disease was mist from metalworking machines, which was widespread throughout the factory.

"While we do not know the precise agent within the mist that triggered the outbreak, we did find links to bacteria, and used metalworking fluid." Click here to go to the BBC article on this case. 

As a result of the HSE investigation, the HSE have also now amended their guidance for those using metalworking fluids.  Click here for the latest guidance. 

Further information:

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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 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). 

According to the British Lung Foundation, 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.