Fentons Solicitors LLP settled a recent lawsuit with a plastics manufacturing firm on behalf of employees who developed occupational asthma after being exposed to isocyanate while working at the factory, according to the law firm. The case was settled for £10,000 (roughly $15,800US).
Employees were exposed to the chemical when working on a machine that had not been fitted with a fumes extractor, according to Fentons. The attorney added that the employee was also not “provided with adequate respiratory protection.”
“All employers owe a duty of care to their workforce, but that is particularly important when dealing with chemicals that can so adversely affect a person’s ability to breathe,” said John Gibney, a member of the specialist Industrial Disease Claims team at Fentons. “Thankfully my client’s symptoms subsided once he had moved to a different department, but people need to be more aware of the dangers of being exposed to such chemicals.”