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So...relative has recently been diagnosed with lung cancer (tumours in both lungs plus what appears to be a contained tumour in Liver).
He is responding positively to some targetted therapy but his first follow-up CT is at the end of the month.
The Oncologist has suggested that the mutation is typically caused by exposure to chemicals. He has never smoked, but has worked in a welding fabrication environment for many years. A recent HSE visit to the work environment identified shortcomings with extraction systems, etc - i.e. not operational for many years.
Given the outcome may not be positive (but fingers crossed it becomes a chronic illness....) and bills, etc still have to be paid, children, educated, etc, etc.
So.....would folks look for some form of compensation and if so when to commence this and how?
Thanks in advance.
Definitely. If he's in a union, that'd be my first port of call. Otherwise a decent lawyer with relevant expertise.
Its a difficult one, as the LEV issues may be an item for improvement from the HSE, but if occupational exposure to welding fume constituents was still below the workplace exposure limits as a result of general dilution within the workplace, the rate of work, the use of welding masks with powered filtered air etc, then there will be no provable link. It is perfectly feasible for extraction systems to be poor, not tested and still have personal exposures to chemicals well below the limits set out in HSE document EH40
If he has ever been part of sampling survey, i.e. worn a personal sampling system usually as part of annual survey carried out by a external company then he has a legal right to see his results. If he hasn't been sampled, but monitoring of other workers doing a similar welding has been carried out in the past, then this is really the more relevant information that the HSE would be looking at with regards to occupational illness. (the performance of the LEV is only part of this)
In the first instance the if the oncologist believes that the cancer is as a result of workplace exposure then this need to be reported back to his employer as its a RIDDOR event which will then trigger further investigation from the HSE looking specifically at the air monitoring reports and risk assessments under REG 6,9 and 10 of COSHH.
best of luck to your relative, if failings are identified with the company which have resulted in significant exposure over a prolonged time, then stuff the buggers for as much as can get as s**t like that really shouldn't be allowed to happen in this day and age.
Taz (occupational health and safety consultant for 20 odd years)
some useful links
http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/carcinogens.htm
Taz,
Thanks.
Simply the extraction systems were installed in a new facility 5+ years ago and have never operated. Additionally there has been no air-fed breathing system. Nor any tests....
then the company are breach of various sections of HASWA and COSHH Regulations and should be looking at a significant fine. It may also be worth a call to the HSE (they have an anonymous phone line to highlight these issues)
Being in the structural steelwork game for coming up to 30 years, it has always amazed me that welders don't use PAPR (Powered Air Purifying Respirator) more often. I've worked for big companies and small , and only ever seen a handful of people using them. Even when there is decent extraction systems in place , you still see the fumes lingering around the face area as they are welding. A lot of them wear paper masks , although I'm not sure how effective these are .
A company I use down in the SouthWest has just provided all their welders with PAPR systems ( coincidentally not long after I said the same thing as above to the director).
Im just learning to weld at the moment , but one of the first things I bought was a decent PAPR . Whether I go on to do welding at a "pro level" or not , I'm going to make it my responsibility to look after my lungs etc
Very very difficult to prove. Even to the balance of probabilities needed for civil cases. Get onto the union or a specialist lawyer but don't get your hopes up.
Surely not that difficult to prove if the new facility was designed and built with an extraction system just five years ago, that hasn't been used for whatever reason.
Even if it were the employees themselves not turning the system on, the employer has a duty of care to ensure they do so.
Its proving causality that is almost impossible. YOu can show that the workplace exposed the person to carcinogens and that they breached H&S but proving that this breach caused the cancer is very difficult
It is as tj says really. There are common cancers that can be clearly linked to certain industry, lung cancers from asbestos work, bladder cancer from historical chemical use in rubber manufacture etc...
The problem is that occupational cancers can takes decades to manifest, so even with 5years of potential exposure, there would need to be significant proof as it is a short timescale and the actual cause (if occupational) could have been20 years ago. Have any other workers showed any form of respiratory illness, weld fume fever etc?
Being able to get the company in to trouble on H&S may be one thing, saying it caused cancer is a very different matter all together, and I would have thought impossible.
Did the Consultant say the cancer was 100% categorically caud by exposure to chemicals , or probably caused by exposure to chemicals?
My Mother had a tumour in her sinuses. The consultantsaid this type of cancer is usually caused by exposure to chemicals. She had been a teacher all her working life.
It isn’t like asbestosis where particles can be found in the lungs giving a direct correlation.
However if action can be taken that helps reduce the risk of another person being harmed from exposure to chemicals in the work place then it’s definitely worth taking action against the company.
This bloody crappy forum!
Isnt there a personal responsibility in the work place to report H&S issues, why did the relative wait 5 years to report an issue. I’m just playing devils advocate.
All aside best wishes to the OP’s relative and I hope the treatment is successful
I attended a course at work a few years ago run by a chap that spent his whole career taking companies to court for just this sort of thing to get compensation. His area of specialty was claims around loss of hearing/deafness in long distance lorry drivers who'd become deaf though decades of sat in the cab of a lorry with the constant hum of the engine. He had to prove that the exposure to the average noise level in the cab over many years lead to the long term hearing loss - so wasn't just a case of making the link between cab noise and deafness and suggesting a likelihood of that casing deafness...he had to actually prove it with evidence and actual science - also taking into account their personal life, so if they DJ'd at a nightclub at the weekends it would have been taken into account for example. So the key is being able to prove that the exposure to the gasses has caused, or likely to have caused the cancer. Obviously in the case of the lorry drivers it is easy to measure the noise exposure in a lorry cab, and it is well understood how noise level exposure affects hearing. If the same understanding of the affect of these gases on human health is there and the gas exposure levels can be accurately measured then I would think there is a strong case.
Yeah, but I bet if you had told half of those same lorry drivers that they should wear ear protection whilst driving they would have probably laughed at you.
H&S applies to everyone in the workplace and it starts with yourself taking responsibility for what you do.
Some good comments here folks. Thanks.
Funkydunc, my own personal sense is that the impact of the work environment on health was never considered until the shock diagnosis of cancer, particularly when multiple trips to GP resulted in antibiotics, suggestion of pnemonia until finally referred to hospital. First reviewer suggested "No, nothing to worry about"....then bang!
There appears to have been a difference between work locations. One location used purely for welding had (non working) extraction system and air-fed breathing systems but the other more general fabrication location has no extraction systems nor air-fed breathing systems. No recollection of fume testing ever taking place.
Unfortunately, my own personal sense is that highlighting many things may ultimately result in no employment. Sad, but unfortunately still true in many organisations.
I was not attending the oncologist discussion, so I don't know if a definitive or a probable.
No-one is currently looking to sue, but considering all potential future avenues.
HSE are very well aware of issues around weld fume causing illnesses of various types (it came to the fore due the reduction in smokers, I think). A campaign was run by HSE with the support of many in the industry and an LEV guide was written, our company was one of many involved. I'd suggest that contacting HSE should be done as it may help protect your relatives colleagues. There are strict H&S laws around ventilation that are enforceable, HSE inspectors can force a shut down if needed. If an enforcement notice is placed on the company it'll not look good if your relative feels taking legal action is required.
As an aside, my experience has been difficulty in getting LEV used by the welder themselves (for various reasons). The correct use of the LEV kit has to be constantly enforced, no amount of training with some welders gets them to think about their health. Introducing them to a former welder who is breathing oxygen from a bottle they have to pull around with them does have an effect. HSE used this tactic on a number of presentations, it used to be available on the HSE website, a chap from Sheffield as I recall taking about himself and his illness.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/welding/illness.htm
the above may be of interest to some.