Are You Ill After Working With Asbestos?
If you have sustained a work place injury you may entitled to file an accident compensation claim.
Work place injuries are often seen as a result of damage from machines or tools, slips or falls or other causes. Most physical injuries are evident at the time at which the accident occurs.
Not all work related injuries can be seen at the time and compensation claims are not necessaritly for immediate injuries
It may be that an employee has to file a claim much later due to them being contaminated by substances they encountered during their time at work.
Asbestos is such a substance, which was widely used in the building industry for thirty to forty years starting in the 1950′s. Asbestos was used mainly for insulation purposes in all types of buildings.
When damaged, asbestos becomes fibrous and the airborne particles can cause overwhelming medical problems to those who have ingested them.
Low level asbestos contamination is everywhere and everyone is subjected to this contamination but this doesn’t usually present any dangers. Fatal medical conditions caused by asbestos occur when high levels of asbestos fibres are inhaled, hundreds of times higher than the harmless levels to which most of us are subjected.
Asbestos related diseases are very serious, often fatal, and even when not life threatening are seriously debilitating.
Protection against the dangers of asbestos must be offered to all those who could come into contact with the material. Particularly at risk are building workers, those in the demolition industry along with heating and ventilation engineers.
The impact on an individual’s health from asbestos damage won’t be seen immediately. Symptoms start to appear when the worker is older and maybe hasn’t been in an asbestos contaminated environment for a long time.
If you are diagnosed with an asbestos related disease you should seek expert legal advice and representation as you may be entitled to file an accident compensation claim. If your work place is proved negligent and failed to protect you against the known dangers of asbestos they will be liable to pay compensation.
Laws differ for conditions caused by industrial contamination where the symptoms don’t appear immediately. However, it is still very important for legal advice to be sought immediately after a diagnosis is made.