October 22nd, 2009
A woman has been awarded compensation of £300,000 after her husband died from the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma.
Michael Streets left school in 1963 and got a job as an apprentice oil fitter at Fawley Refinery, the Southern Daily Echo reports.
Although he left the company in 1975, Mr Streets said he recalled there being no safety measures in place to protect employees against the danger of asbestos. In fact, he said in a statement before he died that workers used to have ’snowball’ fights with the fibres and that the air was thick with deadly dust.
Mr Streets contracted mesothelioma and died in December 2007. His widow Francis took legal action against the Esso Petroleum Company and it recently admitted liability.
She is to be awarded £300,000 in compensation for her loss.
Asbestos-related cancers typically affect five times as many men as women because they are often the result of working in industries that used the materials in the 1960s, Cancer Research UK attests.
Tags: 1960s, Apprentice, Asbestos Cancer, Asbestos Mesothelioma, Cancer Mesothelioma, Cancer Research Uk, Cancers, Deadly Dust, Fibres, Fitter, Job, Many Men, Petroleum Company, Refinery, Safety Measures, Snowball Fights, Southern Daily Echo, Woman
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May 20th, 2009
A man who is dying of terminal lung cancer after being exposed to asbestos as a teenager is to be paid £400,000 compensation.
David Smith, now 56, worked as an apprentice for Associated Electrical Industries at Trafford Park maintaining street lights when he was 15, the Manchester Evening News reports.
It is thought that this was the place where he was exposed to the deadly building fibres.
"I had no idea what we were working with could be so dangerous. We had no protection from the dust, it used to fall on me all the time," said Mr Smith.
He became ill in 2007 and was told he only had another 12 to 15 months to live. To provide for his family after his death, Mr Smith launched legal action against Associated Electrical Industries, now Alstom Energy.
The company has now agreed to a compensation settlement of £400,000 for Mr Smith, but declined to comment on the case.
Earlier this month, it was reported by Get Reading that the widow of a labourer, George Sharpe, is seeking compensation after his death from asbestos-related cancer.
Tags: 15 Months, Alstom, Apprentice, Asbestos, David Smith, Electrical Industries, George Sharpe, Labourer, Lung Cancer, Manchester Evening News, Mr Smith, News Reports, Quot, Teenager, Terminal Lung Cancer
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March 5th, 2009
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has reiterated to employers that they must provide adequate safety provisions to avoid accidents or injuries in the workplace.
Its warning comes after a company was prosecuted for the death of 17-year-old joinery apprentice Simon Murphy.
Mr Murphy was employed by Christopher John Pridmore at his joinery business workshop when a stack of MDF boarding fell from a bracket on the wall and hit him.
He suffered a serious head injury and died later in hospital.
HSE inspector Maureen Kingman said that the accident could easily have been avoided had Mr Pridmore provided safe arrangements for storing wood.
"The boards were stored on top of a bench in the workshop and fell because a bracket that was intended to restrain them was not strong enough to support their weight," she added.
According to additional statistics from the HSE, 229 employees were killed at work between 2007 and 2008.
Tags: Accidents, Adequate Safety, Apprentice, Bench, Business Workshop, Head Injury, Health And Safety, Health And Safety Executive, Hse, John Pridmore, Kingman, Safety Provisions, Simon Murphy, Stack, Statistics, Work Health
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February 4th, 2009
A former contestant of the television programme the Apprentice is suing a recycling company after he was injured by one of its lorries.
Nicholas De Lacy-Brown was walking in London when a lorry being driven by Sylwester Wierzbowski for TGM Environmental reversed close to him and hit a wall.
The wall then collapsed onto Mr De Lacy-Brown, breaking his right leg and pinning him down.
He has now launched a compensation claim against the firm and the driver and is seeking between £50,000 and £100,000 for the pain and loss of earnings.
TGM Environmental and Mr Wierzbowski have both admitted liability.
Graeme Coombs, managing director of the company, said: "We never set out in business to do anyone any harm and the fact we did in this instance is truly regrettable."
If a person wishes to make a claim for personal injury, they must do so within three years of the incident in accordance with the legal requirements.
Tags: Apprentice, Compensation Claim, Coombs, Damages, De Lacy, Driven, Lacy Brown, Lawyer, Lorries, Loss Of Earnings, Managing Director, personal injury, Recycling Company, Television Programme, Tgm, Walking In London
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