Asbestos Exposure Case Study

The IOM were instructed by a firm of solicitors to produce a report on behalf of one of a number of Defendants cited in an occupational disease claim in which a contractor who had worked at numerous sites throughout his career had developed a malignant mesothelioma.

The exposures had occurred during the mid 1960s and the IOM were asked to provide opinion on the date of guilty knowledge and on the likely levels of asbestos exposure throughout the Deceased’s employment with particular emphasis on the levels of exposure during the Claimant's period of employment when engaged in the construction of the Defendant’s site.

A comparison was made between witness evidence regarding the nature of the Claimant’s occupational duties during the construction phase of the site during which asbestos exposure was alleged to have occurred and the extent of the asbestos known to be present at the site from asbestos registers and Defendant's witness evidence.

An evaluation was also made of the Claimant’s cumulative asbestos exposure throughout the remainder of his career. Witness evidence was used which described the Claimant's work activities and allowed his cumulative occupational exposure to be estimated using data compiled by the HSE and other notable authorities. Consequently it was demonstrated that the vast majority of the Claimant's occupational exposure had occurred elsewhere during his career and that in fact no asbestos exposure could have occurred at the Defendants site which matched that described in the Claimant’s witness evidence.

As a consequence of the findings of the IOM report, the action against the Defendant was dropped.