Our expert asbestos claims team were instructed by an 86 year old former employee of R. Holford & Co Limited, a building firm that was based in Guildford, between 1962 and 1981 who had been diagnosed with diffuse pleural thickening and asbestosis.
A witness statement was obtained from the client outlining the circumstances of his exposure to asbestos dust whilst working on contracts for British Rail constructing signal boxes, relay rooms, railway platforms and railway station buildings/offices in such places as Portsmouth and Dartmouth. He removed and replaced asbestos sheets from the roofs of the buildings and was involved in the construction of CLASP buildings where he worked alongside carpenters who cut and fitted asbestos partition walls, asbestos ceiling tiles and Asbestos Insulation Boards. The client also gave evidence that he had been exposed to asbestos dust whilst working at the Army & Navy Stores in Guildford and Victoria, London.
The claim was complicated by the fact that the client was not an employee of R. Holford & Co Limited. However, Boyes Turner’s specialist Industrial Disease team successfully argued that the client was, to all intents and purposes, treated as an employee and that the company therefore owed him a duty of care.
Medical evidence was obtained from an independent Respiratory Physician who assessed the client’s respiratory disability at 50% due to the combined effects of asbestosis and asbestos related diffuse pleural thickening.
Witness evidence to support the client’s own exposure evidence was obtained from the client’s son who had worked with his father on some of the jobs where asbestos exposure had occurred. Boyes Turner’s Industrial Disease team were also able to trace a former colleague of the client who provided invaluable evidence in support of the claim.
Unfortunately, the client sadly passed away whilst the claim was ongoing. However, Boyes Turner’s specialist Industrial Disease team were able to act on behalf of the client’s widow as a personal representative of his estate and brought the claim to a successful and swift conclusion.
