Industrial disease compensation allows workers who developed long-term occupational illnesses, such as asbestos conditions, hearing loss, or respiratory diseases, to claim financial damages from negligent employers. At Thompsons Scotland, our specialist industrial disease solicitors have decades of experience securing maximum compensation for industrial disease claims on a no win no fee basis.
Work-related ill health affects around 1.3 million workers across the UK and if you have become ill as a result of something harmful at work you might be entitled to industrial disease compensation.
These illnesses grow worse with increased exposure to hazards of the job such as dust, chemicals, noise, or vibrating tools. When the cause is your employer's negligence, recklessness, or unreasonable conduct, you have grounds to claim.
How do you make an industrial disease claim in Scotland?
Bringing a claim against your employer can seem like a huge decision. But your employer has a legal duty of care, which means they have a responsibility to make sure your working conditions are safe and healthy. If they have not done this and you are now unwell as a result, you deserve justice.
Thompsons is one of the top personal injury law practices in Scotland. We have specialist teams of solicitors and solicitor advocates dedicated to industrial disease claims. We understand the concerns about making a claim and so we make sure you know your rights and what will happen.
How the claims process works:
- Get in touch: Call us or use our contact form. We will discuss your circumstances and advise whether you have a claim.
- Investigation: We gather evidence of your employer's negligence, including medical records, employment history and witness statements.
- Medical assessment: An independent medical specialist examines you to establish the link between your illness and your work.
- Negotiation: We work out the compensation you are owed and put the case to your employer's insurers.
- Resolution: The vast majority of cases settle without going to court. Where court proceedings are necessary, we represent you throughout.
To read about how we have helped other workers in Scotland, visit our case studies section which includes a claim for noise-related hearing loss and carpal tunnel syndrome.
What is an industrial disease?
An industrial disease is an illness or condition you develop as a direct result of the environment you have been working in. Inhaling fumes over years can lead to respiratory disease. Performing the same task thousands of times can result in repetitive strain injury. Exposure to carcinogens that nobody warned you about can cause cancer. These are all examples of industrial disease.
The hazards differ by industry. In construction, asbestos and silica dust are common threats. Welders may suffer from breathing in metal fumes. Factory workers can sustain nerve damage from vibrating tools. Office and laboratory staff sometimes encounter chemicals that lead to skin disease. What these situations share is an employer who did not do enough to protect the people doing the work.
There are many different types of industrial disease. Some of the most common are listed below.
Common types of industrial disease
- Asbestos-related diseases: mesothelioma, asbestosis, pleural thickening, and lung cancer linked to asbestos exposure. See our asbestos-related diseases section for more detail.
- Noise-induced hearing loss and industrial deafness: caused by prolonged exposure to loud environments in factories, construction sites and other workplaces
- Vibration injuries: hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS), vibration white finger (VWF), carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis and Dupuytren's contracture
- Respiratory diseases: occupational asthma, pneumoconiosis, silicosis, COPD and lung cancer
- Skin conditions: occupational dermatitis and other skin diseases from chemicals, solvents or irritants
- Occupational cancers: cancers caused by workplace exposure to carcinogens including asbestos, silica dust or chemical agents
Thompsons can help you make a compensation claim for occupational ill health. We act only for the injured or mistreated and never for employers, never for the insurance industry.
Seonaid Brophy
Seonaid Brophy
"Compensation claims are calculated using expert evidence to make a causal link between the accident circumstances and the injury sustained."
Can family members make an industrial disease claim?
Industrial diseases, such as mesothelioma, respiratory disease and dermatitis, can cause life-changing effects. Anyone suffering from an industrial disease should receive all the compensation they are entitled to and Thompsons Solicitors in Scotland are specialists in industrial disease claims. If a family member is unable to deal with the claim due to illness or incapacity, we can manage the claim on their behalf.
We are a claimant-only firm and will act in claims regardless of the size or position of the defendant.
How can you claim on behalf of a family member?
If the person who has been diagnosed is able to do so and not incapacitated by their physical health, they will have to bring the claim themselves. Even then, you can still help by arranging meetings and medical appointments as well as providing practical and emotional support. If the case goes to court and the claimant is unable to attend because of their poor health, you may attend on their behalf. This will require a letter from a GP or another doctor.
Can you make a claim after a death caused by an industrial disease?
You can make a claim as the relative, spouse or partner of a person who died of an industrial disease, provided the claim is made within three years of the date of the death, or within three years of the date the cause of death was discovered. If the claim has not yet been determined when the person dies, the family may be able to continue with it. Contact Thompsons so that we can advise you in such difficult circumstances.
What compensation can you receive for an industrial disease?
Seeking compensation is about preventing you and your family from suffering financially because of an illness caused by your employer. We protect the rights, health and financial interests of claimants and their families. That means obtaining compensation for lost wages, medical expenses, equipment, retraining, rehabilitation and many other needs.
Where it is appropriate, we also recover compensation for private treatment so that your recovery is not delayed by NHS waiting lists.
If your family member would prefer not to make a fuss, it is worth noting that a claim for compensation is a legal right. A successful claim will ease the longer-term financial hardships rather than increase them. If an employee is unable to work through illness, Statutory Sick Pay can be paid by an employer for up to 28 weeks. Your industrial illness claim should account for the full time needed to recover properly and the compensation should reflect full pay, including any overtime or bonus payments missed.
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) and compensation claims
If you have an industrial disease, you may also be entitled to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB). This is a government benefit that is not connected to any legal claim for compensation. Over 70 different prescribed diseases are covered.
IIDB is available to workers who have become ill as a result of their job, whether or not their employer was negligent. Making a claim for IIDB does not affect your right to bring a legal compensation claim. Many claimants receive both. IIDB is administered by the Department for Work and Pensions, and full eligibility details are on the GOV.UK website.
A personal injury lawyer can also help you set up a personal injury trust which is a way of managing your finances, including IIDB payments and compensation, to your best advantage.
Industrial Disease Claims FAQs
If you have suffered illness because of your working conditions and your employer failed to provide adequate protection, training, or safe working conditions, you may be able to claim compensation. Here are some of the questions we hear most.
You have three years from the date you knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that you were suffering from an industrial disease to make a claim. Alternatively, the three-year period runs from the date of your last exposure to the substance or process that caused the condition. Many industrial diseases can take a long time to develop, and you may need to make a claim many years after the company responsible for your illness has stopped trading.
As long as it is within three years of your diagnosis, you may still be able to claim compensation even if you have retired or no longer work for the previous employer.
Yes. The claim has to be brought within three years of the date of death. If the person bringing the case dies during the proceedings, the family can continue with the claim on their behalf.
If your family member contracted an industrial disease and then died from something unrelated, the three-year time limit starts from the date they knew or should have known they had that condition, not from the date of the unrelated death.
What are the next steps?
Our industrial disease claim solicitors at Thompsons have decades of expertise in occupational health claims. We only represent claimants, never insurance companies. We also believe it is our role to campaign for better, safer work environments for employees in Scotland.
Call Thompsons today to start your industrial disease claim, or fill in our contact form and we will call you back at a time that suits you.
