£240,000 secured for a Nuclear Power Station worker who was exposed to asbestos in a number of different ways | Fieldfisher
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Case Study

£240,000 secured for a Nuclear Power Station worker who was exposed to asbestos in a number of different ways

Andrew Morgan
David Jacobs was born in 1949 and left school at the age of 15 to begin his working life. He spent the large majority of his career working at Winfrith Nuclear Power Station in Dorset, to which he devoted 32 years of his life, and it is here that he was negligently exposed to asbestos.

Symptoms of asbestos exposure began in April 2016 when David experienced weight loss, coughing and chest pains. David was diagnosed with mesothelioma in June 2016, and shortly after contacted Andrew Morgan, a Partner in our Asbestos Team and Asbestos Disease Specialist to pursue a claim on his behalf.

David held various different roles during his time at Winfrith and was exposed to asbestos in a number of different ways. He had significant exposure when he worked on shutdowns, three or four times a year. One of his tasks was to collect and bag up "coveralls" worn by various workers who were cutting, removing and replacing asbestos lagging.  The coveralls were visibly contaminated with asbestos dust. David was exposed as he packed up the clothing ready for laundering. He also collected bags of lagging waste and debris. One of the tasks in removing the lagging debris involved using a vacuum cleaner specifically designed for the cleaning of asbestos waste. David would have to empty the vacuum bag, dispose of the waste and then replace the bag. As a result David sustained repeated and prolonged exposure to substantial quantities of asbestos for hours at a time and over a period of years. UKAEA (the operators of Winfrith) had made a material contribution to the risk that David would develop mesothelioma and Andrew Morgan began pursuing a claim against them.

David sadly lost his wife, Iris May Jacobs, in October 2014 to lung cancer. Andrew ensured that David's claim was expedited in a bid to get his compensation as quickly as possible so that he would be able to benefit from it.

Andrew secured crucial evidence to support the claim including David's witness statement, his medical records and an expert report. In particular, he managed to trace a "Winfrith Memorandum" from 1986 which confirmed that one of David's former colleagues had been exposed to asbestos levels exceeding the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) at the time. Andrew made it clear to the defendant that David would likewise have been exposed to the same impermissible level of asbestos during his employment at Winfrith.

Within just 3 months, Andrew was able to negotiate a settlement of £240,000 which David was happy to accept. This quick settlement has allowed David to obtain the crucial care that he needs now and going forward.

Contact us

For further information about mesothelioma compensation claims, please call Andrew Morgan on 0330 460 6737 or email andrew.morgan@fieldfisher.com.

Alternatively

All enquiries are completely free of charge and we will investigate all funding options for you including no win no fee.

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