Diffuse interstitial pulmonary fibrosis suffered by the claimant
had been caused by exposure to asbestos during the course of his
employment
The claimant (G) claimed damages for personal injury from the
defendant ministry. G had been employed by the Atomic Energy
Commission as a lagger, between 1949 and 1953. G made steam pipe
insulation by mixing sacks of raw asbestos powder with water. The
process created clouds of asbestos dust which would get all over G.
All the coats of asbestos were applied to the pipes by hand without
the use of any tool. G also had to cut asbestos sheeting into size,
sweep up asbestos dust and re-lag pipes; that necessitated the
removal of old asbestos which generated asbestos clouds. G never
wore a mask except on one occasion and often he was unable to wash
before he went home.
G suffered from diffuse interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. The
parties' experts agreed that G's four-year period as an asbestos
lagger would probably have resulted in exposures to asbestos of
sufficient duration and intensity to put him at risk of developing
asbestosis. The ministry accepted that the minimum threshold had
been crossed but no more. An issue arose as to whether it was
asbestosis or whether it was idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; if it
was the former the cause was inhalation of asbestos fibre; if it
was the second the cause was unknown. G was not diagnosed as
suffering from diffuse pulmonary fibrosis until 2005.
>>Read more