£450,000 asthma payouts for Jus-Rol workers
£450,000 asthma payouts for Jus-Rol workers
A union asthma compensation case has led to a series of large settlements for workers at a Tweedmouth factory whose health suffered because of exposure to flour dust. Usdaw member and ex-bakery worker Adam Purvis was awarded more than £57,000 in damages in 2003 after he contracted occupational asthma when he worked for Berwick based dough makers Jus-Rol (Risks 99). It has now been revealed that 10 compensation claims have so far been settled including two at Newcastle County Court last week, with the total payouts now at £450,000. In the latest cases, both workers were awarded £60,000. Several asthma claims are still outstanding. Mr Purvis's four-year legal claim ended in victory when the company admitted liability after an independent engineer's report, part of evidence assembled for the union-backed case, showed it had failed to comply with safety regulations. Solicitor Kirsten Scott, who represented the workers, said: 'It's sad in this modern world that we still have employees suffering long-term health problems as a consequence of an employer's failure to ensure their safety at work.' She added: 'It's not until the employer, or more often their insurance companies, take a hit that something is done and hopefully that is the case in this instance.'
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