Silicosis Compensation Claims Solicitors

Common Symptoms and Diagnosis of Silicosis

If you think you may have developed silicosis then the first thing you should do is go to see your GP for a clear diagnosis. Being diagnosed will mean you start receiving the treatment you need, and a diagnosis of this kind is also the first step in any silicosis compensation claim.

The common symptoms of silicosis include the following:

• A persistent cough
• Persistently experiencing shortness of breath
• Feeling fatigued and weak
• Losing weight unexpectedly
• A lack of appetite
• Night sweats
• Swelling in the legs
• Discolouration of the lips

As the condition progresses, you may find yourself unable to carry out relatively simple everyday tasks like climbing the stairs or walking.

If you go to see your GP after displaying some of the symptoms of silicosis they will listen to your lungs using a stethoscope. They may also ask whether you have ever worked in a job that meant you were exposed to silica, and if so what kind of safety equipment you were supplied with. If they suspect that you have silicosis they may refer you to a respiratory specialist for confirmation.

Tests carried out by a specialist could include the following:

• A chest X-ray in order to identify any irregularities in the structure of your lungs
• A computerised Tomography (CT) scan of your chest, designed to produce more detailed images of the structure of your lungs
• Lung function testing – this is also called spirometry and will involve breathing into a machine called a spirometer. This will assess how well your lungs are functioning.

In some cases the respiratory specialist might recommend a test for TB, as silicosis increases the likelihood of you developing TB

Long-Term Health Impacts and Prognosis

When you make a no win no fee silicosis compensation claim the amount of any compensation awarded will depend, in part, on the long term health impacts of silicosis and the prognosis for your health and well-being in the future. This reflects the fact that silicosis is a serious and irreversible condition which, even with treatment, is likely to have a hugely negative impact on things like your employment prospects and your ability to live your life to the full.

The sad truth at the heart of any silicosis compensation claim is that there is currently no cure for silicosis, and the symptoms can get progressively worse over time. In the most severe cases, silicosis can lead to respiratory failure.

In addition to the immediate impact of silicosis and the damage it does to your lungs, it can also increase the risk of you developing a range of other serious illnesses. These include the following:

• TB and other serious chest infections
• Pulmonary hypertension – a form of high blood pressure in the blood vessels which supply the lungs. It can cause damage to the right side of the heart
• Heart failure
• Arthritis
• Kidney disease
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Lung cancer

The fact that silicosis increases the risk of a number of other very serious – in some cases directly life-threatening – conditions is just one of the reasons why silicosis compensation claims are so important. The money you may receive as compensation could help you to live the rest of your life as comfortably as possible and concentrate on seeking out any treatment that is available.

Eligibility Criteria for Silicosis Compensation Claims

To a degree, the eligibility criteria for silicosis compensation claims are relatively simple:

• You have been diagnosed with silicosis
• The silicosis was caused by exposure to silica dust in the workplace
• Your employer or ex-employer failed in their duty of care to you and was negligent when it came to minimising the risks of inhaling silica dust

If you think that these criteria apply to you please contact us and we’ll explain whether you have a strong case to claim for compensation. If you do, we’ll work with you to get the compensation you deserve.

In some cases, people other than the direct victims of silicosis can make a silicosis compensation claim, and you can claim on behalf of a loved one. This applies in two cases:

Your loved one lacks the mental capacity to claim – perhaps because of a brain injury or an illness like Alzheimer’s. You can act as the ‘litigation friend’ of your loved one and then make the compensation claim on their behalf.

Your loved one has died as a result of work-related silicosis – a silicosis compensation claim following the death of a loved one won’t lessen the pain you feel, but it could do the following:

Pay on behalf of the deceased loved one’s estate to compensate for the pain and suffering they went through when they were ill

Compensate you directly if you were financially dependent on the deceased, or to cover costs such as funeral expenses

In both of these cases the silicosis claim process itself will be the same as that which applies for a claim which you are making on your own behalf.

The Silicosis Compensation Claim Process

Being diagnosed with silicosis is clearly an upsetting and stressful experience, and starting a claim for compensation may initially seem too daunting to even think about. A complicating factor of silicosis compensation claims, when compared to other industrial illness claims, is that the condition sometimes develops as long as 10 to 30 years after the first exposure to silica dust took place.

This time lag means you may no longer be working with the employer who was negligent in exposing you to silica dust, or will need to think back through your employment history to pinpoint a particular job or workplace. As experts with a strong track record of dealing with industrial disease compensation claims we can help with this and every other aspect of your claim.

We make silicosis compensation claims as simple as possible by breaking the process down into more approachable individual steps. We then guide you through each of these steps in a sensitive and empathetic manner, using clear, plain English rather than legal jargon.

The steps in a no win no fee silicosis compensation claim are as follows:

1. Our handling of your compensation claim will start with a free consultation. We’ll take down the details of your diagnosis and the prognosis going forward, as well as making initial enquiries into your employment history.

Our experience of making silicosis claims means that we may well be able to spot and point out the stage in your working life at which you were most likely to have been exposed to dangerous levels of silica dust.

2. If you decide to go ahead with your compensation claim we’ll start the process of building the evidence by taking a detailed statement from you. This statement will cover the following:

Your diagnosis in full and the results of any tests you’ve had done

The symptoms of the silicosis that you are experiencing, including the severity of those symptoms and the degree to which they have negatively impacted your life – i.e. your ability to work and/or pursue hobbies and interests

Your complete employment history. If there are any parts of your working life that you can’t remember we’ll contact HMRC to access the full, historical details of your working life. Our understanding of silicosis, including the kind of industries in which it is more common and the length of time it takes to develop, mean that we should be able pinpoint exactly when and where the silica dust exposure probably occurred.

Any names or contact details you can give us for people you worked alongside at the time of your exposure to silica dust. If they can provide witness accounts it will help to back-up your own account of the working conditions which led to your exposure.

3. We will get in touch with the relevant employer via a ‘letter of claim’. This is a legal document setting out your intention to claim silicosis compensation on the grounds that their negligence caused your exposure to harmful levels of silica dust.

In the majority of cases, your employer will pass the claim on to their insurer’s to deal with. If the employer has ceased to trade – something which sometimes happens given the time it takes for silicosis to develop – we will trace the employer with whom they took out Employer’s Liability insurance.

Since 1969, every UK employer is legally obliged to take out insurance of this kind, with cover of £5 million as a minimum.

4. We will arrange a medical examination with a specialist in respiratory conditions and/or silicosis. The purpose of this will be the production of a comprehensive medico-legal report setting out the progression of your silicosis to date, the extent of your symptoms and the prognosis for your health in the future.

This report could be presented to bolster your case in the event of the claim having to be settled in court. There is also a chance that the other party to the case, such as your employer’s insurers, will ask for an examination to be carried out by their choice of medical expert.

The more detailed the medical information we have is, the better-equipped we’ll be to build a comprehensive picture of the impact that silicosis has had on your health and wider quality of life, and what the prognosis for any future progression of the illness is.

We will also, with your consent, access the rest of your medical records. This will help us to build a complete picture of your health before being exposed to silica dust, and therefore the scale of the impact any employer negligence has had on you.

5. The evidence we gather to back-up your silicosis compensation claim will enable us to calculate the amount of compensation we think you are likely to receive. The amount awarded in silicosis compensation claims is made up of two amounts – general damages and special damages

General damages are intended to reflect the pain and distress caused by silicosis, and the degree to which it has left you unable to pursue things like hobbies and interests.

Special damages are intended to reimburse you directly for the financial impact of silicosis. The amount awarded is meant to return you to the financial state you would have been in without the silicosis developing. The kind of figures used to calculate special damages include the following:

• Any loss of earnings or pension provision, and any loss of earning power predicted in the future
• The cost of medical treatments and medications directly linked to your silicosis
• The cost of any paid-for care which has been needed because of your silicosis
• The cost of specialist equipment such as mobility aids which you have only had to purchase as a result of your silicosis
• The cost of any adaptations needed in your home or the vehicles you use, such as fitting a stair lift or grab rails

We will advise you to keep any receipts for money spent as a direct result of your silicosis. We also recommend noting down the time spent by friends or family in providing care, as this could impact the amount of special damages awarded.

6. Many silicosis compensation claims are settled when the employer or their insurers admits liability and makes an offer of compensation. If this happens we’ll use our experience of such claims and our understanding of your own experience of silicosis to advise whether the compensation offer is fair and should be accepted.

If your employer doesn’t make a fair offer or denies liability altogether then the case will have to be settled in court.

If the compensation claim goes to court we will represent you and put forward the strongest possible case. Developing a serious and life-limiting disease because an employer was negligent is not something you should have to put up with, and we’ll do everything we can to get you the compensation you deserve.

Preventing Silicosis in the Workplace

Preventing silicosis in the workplace is an employer responsibility, as set out in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Although it doesn’t mention silica dust specifically, the legislation sets out the general duty of care which every employer has toward their employees.

In simple terms, every employer should take all reasonable steps to make sure that the workplace and working conditions are as safe and risk free as possible. Specific actions mentioned in the Act include the following:

• Perform full risk assessments before any work is undertaken
• Ensure that employees have all the training they need with regard to using equipment in the workplace and managing any risks involved in doing so
• Ensure that all employees are equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE) which is correct and fit for purpose. In the case of silicosis, this would include masks to prevent silica dust being inhaled.
• Ensure that all tools and equipment are inspected and maintained as per the manufacturer’s instructions
• Do everything possible to ensure a safe working environment at all times

In addition to the general duty of care set out under health and safety legislation, employers have to comply with the regulations contained in the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH).

These regulations state that employers have a legal duty to prevent employees being exposed to any substances hazardous to health, which includes silica dust. If complete prevention is not practicable – i.e. because employees have to undertake work which involves cutting or grinding stone, for example – then employers should take steps to adequately control any exposure.

Where silica dust is concerned, the Health and Safety Executive has published guidance on controlling the exposure to silica dust. The guidance sets out the steps which employers are expected to take:

• Carry out a risk assessment of any work being done
• If more than five people are employed, the employer should keep a written record of any risk assessment
• Pass any significant findings of the risk assessment on to their employees
• Consider substituting materials which either don’t contain silica, or have a lower silica content
• Carry out regular testing for silica dust in the air. In the UK, the maximum allowed concentration of silica dust in the air of a workplace is 0.1 mg/m³, averaged over eight hours.
• Regular testing will show whether this limit is being met or whether more controls are needed

Put effective control measures in place. These might include supressing the silica dust in the air by using water spray systems on hand-held power tools, using extraction systems on tools to remove the dust as it is produced and installing enclosed booths fitted with air extraction systems to catch and remove silica dust before it has a chance to disperse.

If control methods alone are not enough to remove or control exposure to silica dust, employees should be equipped with PPE which is adequate and suitable, such as dust masks and respirators

Provide education and training for employees in order to raise awareness of the dangers of silica dust and how to prevent exposure

The HSE guidance also states that employees must consider providing health checks for the signs of silicosis for workers involved in high-risk occupations. If employees are regularly exposed to silica dust, leading to a reasonable chance of silicosis developing, health checks and surveillance of this kind must be provided.

Legal Representation: “No Win No Fee” Claims

If you do decide to make a silicosis compensation claim then we will work on your behalf on a no win no fee basis. We think everyone should be able to do their job without the risk of a serious illness like silicosis, and that if an employer is negligent and doesn’t provide safe working conditions, you have every right to seek compensation.

The first thing to note about no win no fee silicosis compensation is that it doesn’t involve any up-front expenses. You can claim the compensation you deserve without worrying about legal fees or costs running out of control.

No matter how much compensation you receive you’ll get to keep the majority of it, with the deduction for your legal costs never exceeding 25%. In the event of an unsuccessful claim the costs of the other party will be covered by something called After the Event (ATE) insurance.

We advise clients to take out ATE insurance at the start of the process, although there is a chance you’ll be covered in this way by existing home insurance policies. Nothing you have to pay will be taken until after a claim has been settled, so you’ll never be out of pocket at any point in the process.

The no win no fee approach makes it simpler and much less stressful to seek justice for neglectful treatment in the workplace and the impact it has had on your life.

Occupations Most at Risk of Silicosis

The highly specific nature of silicosis and the fact that it is usually caused by exposure to silica dust means that it is possible to highlight those industries which present a heightened risk for employees. Industries likely to involve activity which disturbs the silica dust contained in some substances include the following:

• Mining
• Construction work
• Demolition work
• The production of pottery and ceramics
• The manufacture of glass
• Sand blasting
• Stone masonry and stone cutting
• Paving work

More recently, cases have emerged in the UK of people developing silicosis after working with artificial stone worktops. Artificial stone has become an increasingly popular choice for kitchen worktops on the basis of the colours and styles available and the resilient nature of the material.

Unfortunately, artificial stone has a silica content of 90%, compared to 3% for marble and 30% for granite. This silica comes free in the form of dust when artificial stone is cut, and can cause silicosis.

Artificial stone has been used in the UK since 2010, and is still in use at the time of writing, despite some calls for it to be banned, as has happened in Australia and California.

If you’ve been given a diagnosis of silicosis you should go back through your employment history in an effort to find out when and where you might have been exposed to silica dust. You have a period of three years from the date that you became aware of your illness and that it was linked to your exposure to silica, during which you can bring a claim forward, but our advice is always to contact us to discuss your options as soon as you can.

How Much Compensation Can I Expect?

The amount of compensation you can expect for a successful silicosis compensation claim will vary depending upon your personal circumstances. Details such as your age and how severely you have been impacted will impact on what are called general damages.

‘General damages’ refers to an amount which is calculated on the basis of the pain and suffering – physical and psychological – you have suffered as a result of developing silicosis. In addition, general damages will take into account something called ‘loss of amenity’, a phrase which refers to a reduced ability to take part in things like hobbies or leisure activities due to the silicosis.

We’ll use our experience of silicosis claims as well as the guidelines set out in a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to estimate the amount of general damages we think you’re likely to receive. The JCG sets out a range of recommended compensation amounts for industrial diseases such as silicosis.

In the newest edition of the JCG, the amounts recommended for cases of silicosis and other lung diseases include the following:

• A younger person experiencing severe disability and a heightened chance of premature death – £123,000 to £166,000
• An older person experiencing severe pain and a decline in the overall quality of their life – £86,000 to £119,000
• A significant decline in lung function and breathing being impaired – £67,000 to £86,000
• Breathing difficulties which call for the use of an inhaler and impact significantly on your work and social life – £39,000 to £67,000

In addition to general damages your compensation will include special damages. These damages represent an amount intended to return you to the financial position you would be in if you hadn’t developed silicosis. It is calculated using expenses and any loss of earnings which can be directly linked to your silicosis.

Examples of expenses which could be included as part of any special damages you receive include the following:

• Earnings which you’ve lost due to your silicosis, because you’ve had to give up work entirely, retire early, start working fewer hours or switch to a less well paid job.
• Any pension provision which has been lost because the problems caused by silicosis have forced you to take early retirement.
• Any expenses directly linked to equipment such as medical aids which you require to live with your condition. Examples would include mobility aids such as a wheelchair, or specialised sleeping or breathing equipment.
• Any expenses generated by having to make adaptations to your home, such as fitting a stair lift because you are too breathless to walk up and down the stairs.
• Any expenses linked to accessing physical therapy or counselling.
• Any expenses directly linked to the medical treatment needed for your silicosis, including the cost of prescriptions.
• Expenses such as travel costs to and from any medical appointments linked to your silicosis.
• Any expenses linked to buying in care because of the impact of your silicosis.

We’ll explain exactly which expenses you can include. We’ll also recommend keeping physical copies of any receipts connected to these expenses, and photographs of the receipts as a back-up.

Why Choose us for Silicosis Claims?

If you choose Wolferstans for your silicosis claim then you’ll be working with a team of experts boasting a track record of successful claims. We’ve dealt with complex industrial disease cases dating back many years, and we’ll take problems such as an employer ceasing to trade in our stride.

Whether you’re the person suffering from silicosis, or you’re claiming on behalf of a sadly deceased loved one, we’ll handle your claim with empathy and understanding. We know how stressful people can find taking legal action to be, and we handle the process one step at a time, keeping you fully informed of the progress we’re making throughout.

The support we provide is clear and transparent, delivered in simple, jargon-free English, making it easy for you to understand exactly what is happening with your claim. The fact that we work on a no win no fee basis means you can claim without worrying about the cost, and you’ll walk away with the majority of any compensation awarded.

If you’ve been diagnosed with silicosis please contact us today. We’ll provide a free initial consultation and, if you’ve been treated negligently, we’ll do everything we can to get you the compensation you’re entitled to.