Mesothelioma compensation a profound Scottish need
Few if any communities in history have been as dramatically affected by asbestos use as Clydeside in Scotland. Indeed, as a whole, Scotland is the UK hotbed for asbestos-related diseases and mesothelioma compensation claims.
The west of Scotland suffers this legacy more profoundly than the nation as a whole, with asbestos diseases and mesothelioma compensation claims more prevalent in Clydebank than any other part of the country.
The statistics behind this scene are staggering. Put simply, the standardised mortality rate for mesothelioma (SMR) in the UK as a whole is 100; compare that to Clydebank, where an SMR of 1100 for mesothelioma is enough to send shivers down the spine.
Background to the mesothelioma epidemic in Clydebank and Scotland
To understand why there are so many mesothelioma compensation claims in Scotland, it is useful to consider a brief history of its use there.
Since a true picture of asbestosis and mesothelioma prevalence has become clear, the use of asbestos in industry has commonly been referred to as the "worst occupational health disaster in Scottish history".
During the 19th century Scotland was at the forefront of global explosion of asbestos manufacturing. The first asbestos manufacturer, Patent Asbestos Manufacturing Company, was founded in Glasgow in 1871. Within 30 years, there were at least 52 asbestos manufacturers operating in Glasgow.
It is now widely acknowledged that both the Factory Inspectorate and the Health and Safety Executive were ineffectual in protecting workers from the dangers of asbestos use. Those most commonly exposed, engineering workers and shipbuilders, were left direly short in the initial peeks of asbestos-related diseases.
At this time, there was little to access to asbestosis and mesothelioma compensation. Fortunately, these days policy changers, personal injury solicitors and trade unions have made asbestosis and mesothelioma compensation more accessible to sufferers and their families, however this in no way detracts from the trauma and impact of asbestos-related diseases.
During the high-water mark of asbestos manufacture in Scotland, asbestos was part of the manufacturing of all manner of goods: hoses, cement, electrical insulation, engine packing, rope, pain, steam engine insulation, brake linings, panelling, millboard, putty, boiler mattresses, tape and jointings.
Asbestos was also used by significant proportion of Scottish industries, including the train industry, oil industry, marine industry, electrical industry, heating industry, motor industry, building industry and chemical industry.
In the landmark publication, Lethal Work: A History of the Asbestos Tragedy in Scotland, the experiences of those who worked with asbestos are movingly and rigorously documented. One participant recounts conditions in the factory he worked in, saying, "I'll never forget till the day I die the first impression of that place. It was like walking in to Dante's inferno without the fire. It was just hell. The noise was unbelievable Dust was flying through the air everywhere, clouds of dust."
Another of those interviewed for the book vividly remembers working with the asbestos risk, and said, "The worst of the whole thing was the clean-downs. You had to clean the machine once a shift. You had big steel tools like scrapers, and they were for all the world like a big broad blade six or seven inches long that was made out of steel.
"And you scraped off all the hardened asbestos cement from round the sides of the machine with high pressure hoses and these scrapers and because you were working with high pressure hoses you got an awful lot of splash-backs and you were covered in wet asbestos cement."
The words of one participant chillingly encapsulates the predicament of asbestos workers: "If you put a guy into a car and push him down a hill with no brakes in it and it crashes at the bottom and kills him, you've murdered him. Well, it's the same with us. They made us work with poisonous materials that were killing us, and never told us."
A summary that serves as a useful reminder, if any was ever needed, of why asbestosis and mesothelioma compensation remain such pertinent issues today.
Claiming asbestos compensation with the professionals
Here at YouClaim we have years of experience in successfully securing compensation for the sufferers of asbestos-related diseases.
Our panel of asbestos-illness litigation solicitors are widely considered to be among the leading UK specialists in this field of compensation.
We are more than a no win, no fee claims specialist. In fact, we guarantee you that you will never have to pay anyone that is neither us nor the opposing legal side a single penny in costs or fees.
In addition, we ensure that all our customers receive 100% of the compensation awarded to them
If you wish to make your mesothelioma compensation claim today, simply call 0800 10 757 95.
Alternatively, you can fill out an online claim form, request a call back or discuss your claim on e-chat.
But if you wish to speak to friendly legal advisor now, call 0800 10 757 95.
