Month: July 2015

D.I.Y., Asbestos & You

/ Karen / 2 Comments

EWightmanBy Emma Wightman,

Litigation Solicitor, Francis Hanna & Co

As the July holidays approach, many of us will be carrying out (or at least attempting to carry out!) D.I.Y. around our homes.

If you are planning to do some home improvements during the holidays, it is important that you are vigilant in being able to identify any sources of asbestos there may be and, if discovered, to call in specialist contractors to remove this in a safe manner.

The British Lung Foundation estimates that more than half of homes in the UK contain asbestos. 

What is asbestos?

Asbestos was a versatile product which was widely used both in commercial and residential property between the 1940s until it was banned in 1999.

Where can asbestos be found in my home?

There are various places where asbestos could be located around the home including:-

  • Asbestos cement which was typically moulded into corrugated sheeting and used for garage and outhouse roofing
  • Artex often used on internal ceilings
  • Asbestos boards which would be used on internal walls and sound hollow when knocked on
  • Asbestos roofing felt which was used on flat roofs or between brickwork and roofing in external buildings
  • Pipe lagging
  • Storage heaters also often contain asbestos bricks

Asbestos comes in a variety of products and can often be difficult to spot.  Further guidance has been issued by the Health and Safety Executive of typical examples and this may be found at http://asbestos.hseni.gov.uk/galleries/

In my experience as a practitioner in this area, the majority of claims for victims who have been diagnosed with an asbestos-related condition would be due to exposure to asbestos during the course of the victim’s employment many decades earlier.  However, tragically I also see cases where there was no occupational exposure to asbestos and the only exposure was at home in a domestic setting.

There is asbestos in my home – what do I do?

My colleague Martin Hanna, a partner in the firm of Francis Hanna & Co, deals with these very tragic cases on a daily basis. His advice would be as follows:-

“If you suspect that there may be asbestos present you should not go near it.  Whilst asbestos is generally safe if undisturbed, if broken it will release dust and particles into the air which could result in anyone breathing in these fibres developing an asbestos related condition in the future.  Therefore it is imperative to avoid asbestos if discovered and have a specialist contractor remove this safely.”

Therefore, if you are considering D.I.Y. and suspect that there is asbestos present, be sure to have this examined by a specialist prior to carrying out any work.

This small step may well prevent you from developing an asbestos related condition such as pleural plaques, pleural thickening, asbestosis, asbestos related lung cancer or malignant mesothelioma.

If you would like any further information on this area, please feel free to contact Emma on ewightman@fhanna.co.uk or leave us your comments below.

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Waivers – are they worth the paper they are written on?

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JYoungBy Jennifer Young , Litigation Associate

Francis Hanna & Co Solicitors

Summer is upon us and we, as parents, will no doubt have been considering what we can do to keep our children fully occupied during the holidays.

waiversGone are the days when children seemed happy to play in the garden and build a tree house. Nowadays it seems that only the latest, most exciting activity or summer scheme will do.

As we and our children are presented with more and more exciting and challenging activities to choose from,   these activities are likely to carry with them more and more risk.

As a result, activity providers increasingly require us to sign waivers to prevent claims being made against them in the face of a nasty injury, or at worst death.

What is a Waiver? 

A Waiver is a contract between two parties which allows the person or organisation providing the activity (‘the activity provider’), to obtain the signed agreement of the person carrying out the activity, that they will ‘waive’ or forgo their right to make a claim for any injuries sustained by them or their children whilst taking part in the activity.

For example, a trampoline park may require you to sign a ‘waiver’ before your children will be allowed to make use of the trampoline facilities.  Your refusal to sign a waiver may result in you or your child being prevented from taking part.

Understandably this puts great pressure on parents who do not want to disappoint their children but who are also concerned for their children’s safety and their rights in the event of an accident.

Are there consequences to signing a waiver?

If you are worried about the effect of signing a waiver, fear not because under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, an activity provider cannot seek to exclude or restrict their liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence.

Therefore, for example, where an activity provider has not properly maintained its equipment and as a result of a defect in this equipment, an injury was sustained, then the presence of a signed waiver is meaningless.

Why then am I being asked to sign a waiver?

The answer is simple- it is because many people will be unaware of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and as a result, may feel that they have no rights against an activity provider in the event of an injury to themselves or their child when a waiver has been signed.

The desired effect is therefore to limit the number of claims an activity provider has to deal with, such claims being time consuming and costly.

Therefore, if you or your child have been injured while participating in an activity where you were required to sign a waiver, and you believe the accident could have been prevented by the activity provider, it is important to seek expert legal advice because a signed waiver will not always restrict you from seeking compensation.
If you would like more information on this area, please feel free to contact Jennifer on jyoung@fhanna.co.uk or leave us a comment below.

 

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LIFE BITE : Asbestos – A Risk to Local Schools??

/ Karen / 2 Comments

apple-150579_1280There have been recent reports in the local media about teachers who were exposed to asbestos whilst at work and have now developed an asbestos related condition such as pleural plaques, asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma.

 

Only last week, there was asbestos discovered at St Joseph’s Primary School on the Greystone Road in County Antrim which required the relocation of pupils to alternative accommodation for the remainder of the school term.

In general, schools built prior to 2000 may have asbestos-containing materials.  Current Government policy is that as long as the asbestos is in good condition and is unlikely to be disturbed, it is better to manage it rather than to disturb it.  However, it is important that all schools are assessed for risk of asbestos and managed in an appropriate way.

Today’s Life Bite was provided by Emma Wightman who is a Litigation Solicitor at Francis Hanna & Co.
Francis Hanna & Co has always been one of the leading firms dealing with specialist asbestos related disease claims.
For further information, please feel free to contact Emma on ewightman@fhanna.co.ukEWightman

Introducing ‘Life Bites’!

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apple-150579_1280Welcome to our new blog section called ‘Life Bites’!

The aim is to keep you informed on topics that have been in the news and media recently that may be of interest to you.

The information will be bite-sized and hopefully easy to digest!

If there are any legal issues that you have read about in the media lately that are of interest to you and that you would like more information on, we would love to hear from you.

Please contact Claire or Karen or feel free to leave a comment below.

Belfast Area Domestic Violence Partnership: Legal Remedies at a Glance

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CEdgarI am a proud member of the Belfast Area Domestic Violence Partnership.

This is a dynamic group of agencies and individuals who want to improve services for all victims of domestic violence.

Agencies involved include Women’s Aid, PSNI, Social Services, Court Services and solicitors.

We have recently developed a document setting out legal remedies in domestic violence which has been set out in the Infographic below. This Infographic is easy to follow and sets out plainly the remedies available to you if you are the victim of domestic abuse.

This is what we are all about at Life Law NI – straightforward, easy to understand information.

I would urge anyone who is experiencing domestic abuse in their relationship to have a look at the Infographic – it will help point you in the right direction to getting the help you need.

Claire

LEGAL REMEDIES AT A GLANCE