Asbestos ruling affects NI workers

Ruling affects former Belfast shipyard workers

A landmark legal ruling means thousands of workers - including many from Northern Ireland - will be able to claim compensation for cancer contracted as a result of exposure to asbestos.

On Thursday, the House of Lords overturned a Court of Appeal ruling that had denied the victims compensation.

The Law Lords were examining test cases brought by a man who has mesothelioma - asbestos cancer - and two widows whose husbands died of the disease.

They had been denied compensation at previous hearings because the sufferers were exposed to asbestos in more than one workplace.

Mesothelioma attacks the lining of the lung

The decision to overturn those rulings paves the way for thousands of similar claims and could leave insurance companies facing a bill of between £6bn and £8bn in the coming years.

It will have implications for workers in Northern Ireland, particularly former employees of the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, who have been involved in legal action over their exposure to asbestos.

Hundreds of workers have already died from asbestos-related diseases and doctors say they expect increasing numbers of people to fall ill in future.

Robert Brown, a campaigner for asbestos victims in Northern Ireland, said the ruling would have a significant impact on compensation claims.

"It will free up the cases so that the people will be able to get their compensation," he said.

"It will then free up the government compensation because the government departments, the social services, usually follow suit. It is a complete free up for asbestos victims."

Up until about 1970, asbestos was a widely used insulation material in a number of industries, but particularly in shipbuilding.

In the confines of a hull, thousands of workers were exposed to the deadly fibres.

Lung diseases

In recent years, several hundred people have died from lung cancer as a result.

Several thousand more have suffered from a range of lung diseases.

As Harland and Wolff was in public ownership at the time, liability for the shipyard rests with the government.

Over the next four years it expects to pay out £40m and over the next 50 years potentially up to £190m, although that figure will remain under review.

Mesothelioma attacks the lining of the lung or abdomen. It can cause a great deal of pain, and responds poorly to surgery and therapies.

Around 90% of cases occur in people who have experienced "significant exposure" to asbestos.

It develops at least 20 years after exposure and many patients die within two to three years of being diagnosed.