Chemicals can hurt wherever you work

Chemicals can hurt wherever you work

You don’t have to work in the chemical industry to be harmed by chemicals at work, two 59-year-old Unite members have found to their cost. A now retired electrical technician for a pharmaceutical company needed two skin graft operations and developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being sprayed with bromine. The father-of-three from Newcastle was sprayed while disconnecting pipes from a tank that housed the chemical. The pipes connecting the tank to the computer system were supposed to have been drained before he started work, but this hadn’t happened. After being sprayed, he ran to a nearby safety shower, but the skin on his right leg, right arm and face was already severely burnt and his vision was impaired. He received £210,000 in a union-backed claim. In a second incident involving a Unite member, the worker on an assembly line at a car manufacturer in Solihull noticed a strong chemical smell and started to feel light-headed and breathless and collapsed onto the concrete floor. It was later found that the smell was caused by an independent contractor working in an adjacent section of the building using the chemical Sikafloor-Proseal PRO, which makes concrete dry faster. The man was given oxygen by first aiders but when his condition didn’t improve, he was rushed to a hospital respiratory clinic. Doctors found exposure to the fumes had aggravated childhood asthma, which had not affected his health since he was 10-years-old. For several days after the incident the Unite member suffered from nausea and migraines, and months later continues to find physical activity difficult because of tightness in his chest. He received an undisclosed payout in a Unite-backed compensation claim.*

• Thompsons Solicitors news releases on the acid burns and chemical fumes settlements.