Eastbourne man launches £100,000 High Court claim for asbestos exposure

David Geal suffers from asbestosis and pleural thickening which he claims was caused by asbestos exposure when working for the Central Electricity Generating Board, the predecessors to National Grid – according to the writ.

Mr Geal worked for the company at Brighton Power Station between 1958 and 1967.

Asbestosis and pleural thickening are lung conditions that cause respiratory issues and can lead to mesothelioma, a particularly aggressive form of lunch cancer. Both have been heavily linked to prolonged exposure to asbestos.

Inhalation of asbestos, which was used as a building material until it was banned in the UK in 1999, can lead to fibres being lodged in the lungs, causing scarring and thickening of the airways.

Mr Geal, who lives in Victoria Drive, claims in the writ that he was constantly exposed to asbestos during his nine years at the company.

According to the writ, he said he would have to clean a boiler house at the power station which contained large amounts of asbestos insulation, that laggers would mix raw asbestos with water in wheelbarrows in the open air whenever the station was closed for maintenance, and that pipes insulated by asbestos would burst releasing the toxic mineral into the atmosphere.

Mr Geal’s work overalls would often be covered by white asbestos dust during these frequent incidents, he says in the claim.

Mr Geal, who worked as a labourer and then a turbine operator at the power station, said he now suffers from a respiratory disability of 30 per cent due to pleural thickening, and 15 percent due to asbestosis, says the writ.

He says this leaves him at risk of his condition deteriorating and developing respiratory failure, lung cancer or mesothelioma.

Insurers for the National Grid have already admitted negligence in Mr Geal’s exposure to asbestos, but the matter is likely to go to court for a judge to assess the level of compensation.

The average compensation awarded for asbestos-caused mesothelioma ranged from £137,000 to £153,531, according to government statistics.