Plymouth tops a league table of the UK’s hotspots for deaths linked to a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos at work.
“There were 648 deaths among males in the Plymouth area from mesothelioma, a merciless deadly cancer which is caused by exposure to asbestos,” said industrial disease expert Daniel Easton, who is an executive committee member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL).
Newly-released data from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) details the number of deaths from the disease in the 40 years up to 2022.
Areas with high asbestos-related mortality like Plymouth have links to industries including ship building, which in the past used materials containing asbestos before it was banned. Other areas in the south of England with high numbers of deaths are Portsmouth with 464 Southampton with 425 and Gosport at 170, according to the data from the Health and Safety Executive.
“The figures, however, do not tell the whole story. There is another strikingly similar disease - asbestos-related lung cancer, which is just as prevalent as mesothelioma, and also arises due to exposure to asbestos at work,” said Mr Easton.
“The two cancers are so alike that doctors can mistake them for each other. But there is a very unfair disparity legally between how victims of these two diseases are treated when it comes to seeking justice for the death sentences inflicted on them by negligent employers,” he went on.
“It can be many years after contact with asbestos that symptoms begin to develop, and often people will have worked for several employers responsible for their exposure to the dust. In that time, businesses may have folded, and insurance records are often lost or destroyed,” he explained.
“People who are diagnosed with mesothelioma need to find just one of their negligent former employers to claim full compensation. The responsible insurer can then continue the search for other employers in order to apportion blame between them. People with a terrifying, terminal illness obviously do not have the luxury of time to find insurance records themselves,” said Mr Easton.
“But asbestos-related lung cancer victims must track down all firms which exposed them to asbestos to receive full compensation. Otherwise, they can miss out on thousands of pounds which can be crucial in paying for medical treatment and care.
“I have no doubt there will be an impact on people in Plymouth,” he said.
APIL, in a joint campaign with the Asbestos Victims Support Group Forum (AVSGF) is calling for a UK-wide law allowing sufferers of asbestos-related lung cancer to receive full compensation in the same way as mesothelioma victims.
“There is no justification for treating asbestos-related lung cancer victims any differently from sufferers of mesothelioma,” said Mr Easton.