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Occupational Asthma Caused by Colophony

If you or a member of your family is suffering from occupational asthma due to the negligence of your employer or another party, it is possible that our specialist personal injury lawyers could help you to claim compensation.  Contact us today on 0800 032 8511 for claim advice, or by completing a claim enquiry form .

What is Colophony?
Occupational Asthma
Compensation
Advice From Specialist Industrial Disease Lawyers

What Is Colophony?

People who work in the electronics industry may come into contact with colophony.  This is a resin used as a solder flux, which gives off fumes.  These can act as an irritant if inhaled, and so can cause certain health problems for workers.

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Occupational Asthma

Colophony fumes are one of the many irritants that can cause occupational asthma, and employers have a responsibility to protect their employees from exposure to such health hazards.  There are regulations in place such as the COSHH, or Control of Substances hazardous to Health Regulations 1988, which should be adhered to.  If your employer fails to take sufficient precautions to prevent harm to their employees however, and you develop occupational Asthma, you may be entitled to make an injury claim for compensation.

In every case, medical evidence will be required.  Detailed expert evidence is often also required in disease cases to show that the condition suffered by a claimant was caused by exposure to a particular substance.

In any personal injury claim it is necessary to show that the person you are making a claim against owed you a duty of care, that they breached that duty of care (were negligent), and that the injury you sustained was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of that negligence.

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Compensation

There are two elements to a compensation award.  The first is for the pain and suffering you may have gone through and what is known as loss of amenity.  This is called general damages and can include an award for your inability to do things that you used to be able to do before (eg wash your car, gardening work, play sports etc).  The award for loss of amenity can be for a short period or for ever if that is what the medical evidence supports.

The second element of a compensation award is for your losses and expenses and is known as special damages.  It is important to keep receipts for any expenditure you have related to your condition, so that these can be reclaimed.  The aim is to put you back in a position financially as if you had never developed occupational asthma.

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Advice from Specialist Industrial Disease Lawyers

The Legal Line lawyers are specialists in all areas of personal injury and industrial disease and can therefore provide expert claim advice, guidance and assistance.  If you believe that you have developed asthma as a result of your working environment, they can assist you in making a compensation claim in respect of the current and future effects that this has on your life and work.

It may also be possible to make a posthumous claim in respect of a relative that has died due to occupational asthma.

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