Issue 21 : Autumn 1995
Table of Contents:
1. Victory for British Asbestos Victims
2. Compensation for Naval Asbestos Victims
3. Experimental Treatment for Mesothelioma
4. Northern Ireland: Past & Future Use of Asbestos
5. Contamination in England, Scotland & Wales
6. UK Asbestos Verdicts
7. Australian Asbestos Action
8. The Asbestos Time Bomb
1. Victory for British Asbestos Victims
Seven months after a Parliamentary lobby called for the abolition of the Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU), the Social Security Committee published a report on the unit's policies and operations which condemned as "revolting to the ordinary man's sense of justice" the way in which the present system operates. Under Chairman Frank Field, the all-party committee heard oral evidence in February and March from the Solicitor's Office, The Benefits Agency, the Department of Social Security, the Civil Litigation Committee, the Compensation Recovery Unit, Clydeside Action on Asbestos (CAA), the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, the Law Society, the Association of British Insurers and others. Compensation Recovery is the title of the report which was published on June 21, 1995 and is the fourth publication of this committee.
The committee understood "the particular and special case of people with asbestos related conditions. We believe that the special circumstances of asbestosis sufferers should be recognised. Because of the unique difficulties of pursuing claims and because of the high mortality rate of asbestos related sufferers, we believe that all recovery in these cases should cease at the earliest possible opportunity." Furthermore, the committee recommended that "the compensator and insurer bear the cost of reimbursing the taxpayer for benefits paid to claimants as the result of accidents or injury or disease." Recognizing that this would inevitably lead to a rise in employers' liability premiums, the report suggested that "within six months...the Government lay before the House a Business Cost Compliance Assessment giving a range of estimates of the impact that our proposed reform would have on the level of insurance premiums."
Since 1989 the CRU, a branch of the Department of Social Security, has been recovering millions of pounds in state benefits from victims who have obtained more than £2,500 (USA$4,000) through court actions against employers and others. Having observed the effects of the CRU's demands on many of its terminally ill members, CAA, a Glasgow-based charity, solicited support from local MPs and organized the London rally last November. Welcoming the committee's findings, a CAA spokesperson called on Parliament to act on the report "without delay." The CAA is still concerned about the plight of those who have already experienced a "claw back" of benefits and is looking "for recognition that these people have been unfairly treated."
The Workplace Injury Victims Bill, proposed by Andrew Mackinlay, Dennis Skinner, Tony Worthington and nine other MPs, was put before Parliament on July 14, 1995 but ran out of time. According to Mackinlay the bill will be introduced next session. The bill provides "that those who are in receipt of an award of compensation in respect of any accident, injury or disease as a consequence of their employment..shall be entitled to benefit from such an award in its entirety; that any negligent employer or other compensator shall be obliged to meet the cost of any social security or statutory benefit paid to any worker, employee or dependant..."
2. Compensation for Naval Asbestos Victims
A campaign led by the Evening Herald newspaper and backed by local people, politicians and trade unions in Plymouth has called for changes in a law which prohibits former service personnel from suing the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for asbestos-related diseases contracted in the course of military service. The 1947 Crown Proceedings Act allowed claims to be brought against the Admiralty (now the MoD) by civilian workers but prohibited actions by former service personnel. Although the Crown Proceedings Act 1987 granted service personnel the same rights to sue for compensation as their civilian counterparts, the result of the Act, which prohibited retrospective claims, was to continue to deny compensation for asbestos exposure before 1987.
According to the Evening Herald, civilian and naval workers had been exposed to asbestos at the local Devonport dockyard since the early 1900's. First chrysotile and then crocidolite-containing products were used; asbestos was "everywhere and no one on the ships had the slightest inkling" of the damage it would cause in years to come. Bill Luck, former Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer, said that during his naval career which started in 1953, he had been exposed to asbestos in the ventilation systems and the boiler and engine rooms on which he worked. "When ships were in for repairs and refits, asbestos was being ripped off from all over them," Luck said.
Yet in August, 1945 A.W. Garrett, the Chief Inspector of Factories, had sent a letter to British asbestos companies, trade unions & shipbuilders in which he expressed his concern at the "considerable development during the war years in the use of asbestos...in the Shipbuilding and Shiprepairing Industries...and the accompanying increase in the number of workers exposed to risk of injury to health through asbestosis." Garrett wrote that: "while asbestos dust may not have any apparent effects at first, experience shows that, particularly if the workers are exposed to the dust in substantial concentrations, serious results are apt to develop later." David Carter, a former Plymouth shipwright and union official, maintains that many lives could have been saved had "the very basic precautions outlined in the letter been introduced at Devonport from 1945."
David Jamieson, MP for Plymouth Devonport, believes that barring former service personnel from bringing actions for asbestos exposure before 1987 is unjust: "the Government has denied its employees in the armed forces the same rights as its civilian employees have had the past 50 years." Jamieson has called for the issue to be brought before the European Court of Human Rights and for ex-gratia payments to be made to sufferers while new rules are put in place. Solicitor Donald Ramsbottom agrees that the current law could be challenged under the European Convention on Human Rights; he represents twelve members of a Solent asbestos action group who are trying to bring a test case before the European Court .
A Plymouth support group for asbestos victims has been formed in response to local concern. The Plymouth branch of the Asbestos-Related Diseases Association was launched at the end of June to offer assistance on legal and medical matters and to provide a social forum for sufferers.
3. Experimental Treatment for Mesothelioma
Pioneering research into treatments for malignant mesothelioma and other thoracic malignancies by staff at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center has been rewarded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute which will fund a clinical trial due to begin in Autumn, 1995. Pending final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, this will be the first time that gene therapy has been authorized as an initial medical treatment. The focus of the project will be on the safety and side effects of the novel new procedures which have proved extremely effective in animal experiments. Tumor burdens in mice were completely eradicated and survival was significantly prolonged. Although large bulky tumors in rats were not "cured," they were markedly reduced in size. A modified cold virus, the adenovirus, containing a "suicide gene (thymidine kinase)" will be injected into the patient who will then be treated with ganciclovir, an anti-viral drug. By infecting the tumor cells, the virus should make them susceptible to the medication which will kill off the cancer cells but spare the healthy ones. Although optimistic about the upcoming human trials, one of the team acknowledged that "even if all goes well, it will be years before we can treat patients with these techniques."
The Thoracic Oncology Research Laboratory team, led by co-directors Dr. Albelda and Dr. Kaiser, was set-up in 1992. The interdisciplinary group of researchers and clinicians is looking at other forms of gene treatment including a protocol in which a gene might enable the human immune system to destroy tumor cells. The efficacy of butyrate, a naturally-occurring compound, when used in conjunction with gene therapy is also being investigated. An intrapleural trial of suramin, a growth-factor inhibitor, is being planned following experimental successes in the laboratory and with other human malignancies. Encouraging results have also been observed from experiments with "anti-sense oligonucleotides;" this new class of drugs has inhibited the growth of susceptible tumors in animals.
Seven delegates from the Pennsylvania group will be attending the third international Mesothelioma Conference in Paris from September 13-15, 1995. Organized by the International Mesothelioma Interest Group, the conference is for scientists and clinicians interested in mesothelioma. Formal presentations will be made by team members on September 15 at 9 a.m. These include: Thymidine kinase: Suicide Gene Therapy Basic Science (Dr. Albelda) and Thymidine kinase: Suicide Gene Therapy Clinical Trials (Dr. Kaiser). Information about this meeting can be obtained from Professor Bruce Robinson in Perth, Australia; fax: 619 346 2816/e-mail:bwsrobin@uniwa.uwa.edu.au
4. Northern Ireland: Past & Future Use of Asbestos
It is ironic to report that at the same time that asbestos contamination has been discovered in a large public building in Northern Ireland (NI), plans have been unveiled to use asbestos cement pipes to carry the public water supply for much of greater Belfast well into the next century.
Recent building work at the Police Authority's administrative headquarters in Seapark, Carrickfergus, NI has disturbed old asbestos lagging material and created an "unsafe level" of asbestos in sections of the complex. The contaminated areas have been sealed off as a "precautionary measure" and specialist removal contractors have been brought in by the Authority. Built as a cigarette factory in the 1960's, two hundred people are currently employed on this site which also houses the NI Forensic Laboratory.
Plans to replace four kilometers of water main with asbestos cement piping have led to calls by local politicians and citizens' groups for a government rethink. Thirty million gallons of water per day are carried along the designated stretch between the Mournes and Belfast. It is believed that the two lowest tenders submitted to the Department of the Environment (DoE) specified the use of asbestos cement pipes. John Taylor, MP and Ulster Unionist, has demanded a full disclosure of the one million pound proposal from Sir Patrick Mayhew, the Northern Ireland Secretary, while Roy Beggs, MP for East Antrim, has informed the Environment Minister, Malcolm Moss, of his concern. Eddie McGrady, MP for South Down, said: "It is worth noting that many European countries have abandoned the use of this substance and, in fact, many have issued an official ban on the use of it to public and private sector organisations." Andrew Dougal, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Chest Heart and Stroke Association, also condemned these plans because of the health risk to "those who manufacture or lay the cement asbestos pipes" and to the public at large.
The public outcry which followed the announcement in June has forced the DoE to postpone the final decision until the Water Research Centre, a body part-funded by the water industry, can prepare a report into the use of asbestos cement pipes as conduits for the supply of public water.
The rate of asbestos-related deaths is many times the norm in heavily industrialized areas; with it's long shipbuilding past, workers in Belfast have been exposed to asbestos products throughout the century. Despite the acknowledged hazard of occupational exposure, there has been an extremely off-hand attitude towards the collection of data in NI and access to accurate figures remains extremely difficult. The cancer registration system, established in 1959, became a notification system through lack of financial resources. A 1985 quality audit found a completeness of less than 70%. The new Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, in its infancy, has only begun to identify major health issues; it is, as yet, unable to provide comprehensive information on asbestos-related deaths. The figures for mesothelioma deaths from 1989-93 which are available from the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry show that nearly 45% of all NI victims were from the Belfast area.
5. Contamination in England, Scotland & Wales
In recent months, asbestos contamination has been found in landfill sites and houses throughout the United Kingdom. Improper disposal of asbestos led to a £6,500 ($10,400) fine for a waste services company in Northern England. The company, Lancashire Waste Services, admitted breaching local safety regulations which stipulate that asbestos waste should be wrapped to a thickness of at least six inches. On November 16, a routine inspection found damaged bags had exposed asbestos to the elements at the Jameson site. Homeowners in Scotland were appalled to learn last February that the properties which they had purchased from the East Kilbride Development Corporation contained asbestos in the internal and external boarding of the window walls in each room. They have been advised not to "scrape, drill or otherwise break the internal panelling of the window walls." Large sections of bonded asbestos sheets were unearthed on property owned by Powys County Council in July. It is believed that Richards & Sons, a bankrupt Welsh building company, dumped the contaminated material last year. John Devereux, a resident from the mid-Welsh housing estate which adjoins the contaminated land, is critical of the district council for not having acted sooner.
Although payments to asbestos victims under the 1979 Workers' Compensation Act were increased by 2.2% in June, there is no government scheme to compensate residents or other environmentally-exposed victims. Under the government scheme, lump sum payments for victims who were employed by private firms that have gone out of business range from £1,776 ($2,840) to £50,173 ($80,277).
6. UK Asbestos Verdicts
Hull: Seventy-five year old Ron Spencer from East Hull has been awarded nearly £43,000 ($68,800) by Justice Tom Cracknell for pain and injury caused by his exposure to asbestos while in the employ of Arco Ltd. The pensioner worked for this firm for thirty-one years until he was forced to take early retirement in 1979 due to illness. He is diagnosed as being 40 per cent disabled through asbestosis.
Liverpool: In June, a High Court awarded Mrs Joyce Owen £132,000 ($211,200) eight years after the death of her husband, Trevor Owen, from mesothelioma. Mr Justice Buxton found that Imperial Metal Industries, Mr Owen's former employer, had "fallen short of its obligation to Mr Owen throughout his employment with them."
Nottingham: Dr Nigel Chapman, the Coroner for Nottingham, pronounced a verdict of death from an industrial disease in the case of Keith Waterfall, aged 49, who died from malignant mesothelioma on June 11. It is believed that the deceased's asbestos exposure occurred between 1973-1983 when he worked as an industrial cleaner.
Scunthorpe: Coroner Stewart Atkinson recorded a verdict of death "as a result of an industrial disease due to exposure to asbestos during his employment" in the case of Stanley Trenholm, a retired police chief inspector, who died from mesothelioma last August. Coroner's officer Ian Wressell told the inquest that it is probable that "Mr Trenholm's exposure to asbestos has been while employed as a scenes of crime officer in the Scunthorpe area."
7. Australian Asbestos Action
A publication launched in June, 1995 by the Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia (ADSA) is designed to generate public interest and increase awareness of on-going asbestos dangers in Australia. This new quarterly publication, Australian Asbestos Action, and a current ADSA poster campaign highlight the problems of asbestos found in Australian homes and are examples of the ADSA's campaigning efforts. Now based in Perth, Western Australia this group has given a voice to thousands of asbestos victims since 1979. Along with the Asbestos Diseases Advisory Services, which was set up in 1984, members have worked to counsel victims and their families, raise funds for medical research and support services, lobby regional and national politicians and increase community awareness of the dangers of widescale asbestos use in Australia between 1940-1980.
A full-page article headlined: Holiday homes - a health hazard maintains that asbestos-containing materials were often used in the construction of fibro holiday shacks. Research has found that fifteen years of weathering and exposure to pollution can cause these products to corrode and release asbestos fibers into the environment.
8. The Asbestos Time Bomb
Published by Catalyst Press this year, The Asbestos Time Bomb (ISBN 0 646 23749 7) is a compact work which aims to place the consequences of past asbestos use in Australia's Latrobe Valley into both a national and international context. By outlining the development of medical knowledge in Britain, the U.S. and Europe, George Wragg exposes the ineffectual way in which Australian government and industry officials continued to permit the massive exposure of thousands of power industry workers long after evidence had been published which demonstrated the dangerous nature of asbestos. "There can be little doubt that a succession of governments from 1945 to 1978 bear the greatest reponsibility for failing to adopt and enforce measures which could have protected workers from the dangers of asbestos." Although asbestos regulations were introduced in Victoria in 1945, attempts at enforcement were minimal; stricter regulations, prepared in 1957, were not adopted for over twenty years.
Descriptions of asbestos use and practices throughout the power industry in Victoria between 1949-1986 are sadly all too familiar. "As a result (of the massive use of asbestos) ... power stations were virtual mountains of asbestos, and the larger the units the larger the quantities of asbestos in all its forms." This book, written from a lay person's perspective, is a welcome addition to the collective body of information about asbestos.
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Compiled by Laurie Kazan-Allen for the LKA Group*
*LKA Group:
LKA Services Ltd.
Jerome Consultants