Personal injury advice from
Thompsons Solicitors
Trike Poisoning Compensation
If you are suffering from an illness or condition caused by exposure to trichloroethylene, commonly known as trike, you may be entitled to compensation.
Our specialist personal injury solicitors have a wealth of experience in workplace injury and industrial disease claims and can provide you with expert legal advice. Contact us on 0800 0328511 or by completing a claim enquiry form online.
What is Trike?
TCE Safety
Illnesses Caused by Trike
Industrial Illness Claims
TCE Exposure Compensation
Specialist Claim Advice
What is Trike?
Trike is the commonly used name of trichloroethylene (or TCE), a chemical used as an industrial solvent. It is mostly used as a metal degreaser and is also an ingredient in some paint strippers and industrial cleaning agents.
Although TCE was previously used for other purposes, for example in food production processes and the pharmaceutical industry, it has been banned from most other uses because of its toxicity.
Trichloroethylene is an irritant when it comes into contact with the skin and it can cause a number of health problems if inhaled or ingested, some of them very serious.
TCE must therefore be carefully controlled when used and those in contact with it should be provided with adequate protection. At workplaces, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988 (COSHH) apply to trike.
TCE Safety
It is important that anyone working with trike is provided with the appropriate personal protective equipment to prevent the solution from coming into contact with their skin or eyes and to prevent them from inhaling fumes.
Other safety measures include using an alternative to TCE wherever possible and using enclosed systems to reduce contact.
Employees using trike must also be given adequate information about it and training on how to use it safely. It should also always be stored, labelled and disposed of correctly.
If the relevant health and safety procedures are not followed for the use of trike, this can result in personal injury. If you have suffered TCE poisoning or a TCE-related injury because of the negligence of your employer, you should seek legal advice at the earliest opportunity.
Illnesses Caused by Trike
Skin Conditions
If trike comes into contact with the skin, it can cause severe irritation, contact dermatitis or chemical burns.
Health Effects
When inhaled because of insufficient ventilation or protection, trichloroethylene can have adverse effects on a person’s health. Dependent upon the level of exposure and whether it is acute (one larger exposure) or chronic (lower level exposure over a prolonged period), the symptoms of TCE poisoning range from headaches, nausea and dizziness, to disorientation, vomiting, motor function impairment, cardiac arrhythmias, liver damage, coma and even death.
Trichloroethylene is also thought to be carcinogenic (cancer causing).
Parkinson’s Disease
Exposure to trike has been linked with Parkinson's disease. Recent research suggests that people exposed to TCE at work are 6 times more likely to develop Parkinson’s, which is a progressive, incurable, neurological condition.
Sufferers of Parkinson’s disease experience symptoms including tremors, slowness of movement, stiffness of the muscles, problems with speech and balance and impaired motor function, because of the death of nerve cells in their brain.
If you have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and you have worked with trike, you may be in a position to make a compensation claim. As this area of law can be complex, it is important to seek the advice of a specialist solicitor.
Industrial Illness Claims
If you believe that you are suffering an illness or injury as a result of exposure to trike, the first and most important step is to seek medical attention. In any trike poisoning compensation claim, 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 a 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.
If a family member has died from a disease caused by exposure to TCE, it may still be possible to make a compensation claim posthumously.
TCE Exposure Compensation
There are two elements to a compensation award. The first is for the pain and suffering you 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 after the trike exposure that you used to be able to do before (eg, wash your car, look after your garden, walk the dog, etc). The award for loss of amenity can be for a short period after you develop a condition 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 the problem, so that these can be reclaimed. The aim is to put you back in a position financially as if the trike-related illness had never occurred.
Specialist Claim Advice
At The Legal Line, our lawyers specialise in all areas of personal injury, including recovering damages for the innocent victims of industrial diseases. They can provide expert advice and assistance in reviewing your case and working towards the best possible outcome.
Details of some of the cases our lawyers have handled on behalf of people affected by exposure to trike can be found below, or in our news and client stories sections:
Claim Against MoD for RAF Painter Exposed to Dangerous Chemicals
Contact us
Testimonials
"This compensation is not going to bring my health back. But it will make sure my wife will be looked after. It's a big relief to know that this has all been sorted out in my lifetime."
Charles
Personal Injury News
