In the recent Judgment of Edwards and ors v 2 Sisters Food Group Limited [2025] EWHC 1312 (KB), Sir Peter Lane considered causation in work-related COVID-19 claims and the courts’ approach to a summary judgment application where further evidence may yet be adduced by the respondent. This Judgment is of significance for anyone dealing with…
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Disease Blog
19 Jun 2025
Philip Turton adds to his article on URS Corporation Limited v BDW Trading Limited. This article can be read here. Two weeks ago I wrote about the effect of URS Corporation Limited v BDW Trading Limited [2025] UKSC 21 (“URS Corporation”) on claims for contribution in mesothelioma cases. The effect of the decision in the…
29 May 2025
In Jonathan Bevan v. Ministry of Defence [2025] EWHC 1145 (KB), Mr. Bevan, a soldier, sought damages for alleged negligent exposure to excessive noise during his participation in testing Ajax armoured vehicles with the Household Cavalry Regiment from 2017 to 2020. Although the Defendant conceded a breach of duty, the trial centred on causation. The claim…
Ropewalk Chambers has, over many decades, established a market-leading reputation for detailed and specialist expertise in the field of Industrial Disease litigation.
Whether asbestos, noise, dust, vibration, stress or any other insidious process, including those which are newly emerging, its members have consistently appeared in the leading cases, determining the limits of liability, causation and quantum at first instance and appellate level.
Work is distributed within Chambers to enable Members of Chambers to represent both Claimants and Defendants in this field.
To find out more about our Disease barristers, click here.
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09 Jun 2025
On 3rd June 2025 the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) published research undertaken by the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) in relation to selected malignant and non-malignant respiratory diseases (lung cancer and COPD; other respiratory diseases such as asthma and various types of pneumoconiosis were excluded). The research was commissioned in circumstances where the current list…
27 May 2025
Limitation in Living Mesothelioma Contribution Claims History demonstrates that mesothelioma claims uniquely present particular issues which require careful attention. The nature of the claims throw up tensions unusual in many other types of claim. In cases of living victims, the Asbestos List requires such cases to progress to trial expeditiously, where possible. The same consideration,…
03 Apr 2025
It is a common feature of most industrial disease litigation that the relevant events often took place a long time ago. A trial judge determining such cases is frequently faced with limited documentary evidence and with evidence from lay witnesses (some of whom may have died before trial) who have limited recall of historic events…
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More updates
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11 February 2025Read more
The High Court Mesothelioma List provides for a swift appraisal of asbestos claims at the first Case Management Conference, where it adopts the “show cause” procedure set out in Practice Direction 49B at 49BPD.6. At this hearing, the court requires the Defendant to identify the evidence and legal argument which provides it with a real…
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4 July 2024Read more
On 14 March 2024 the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in White v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2024] EWCA Civ 244. The White appeal was one of two cases, heard together, the other being Cuthbert v Taylor Woodrow Construction Holdings. The issue in each case was that of breach…
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7 December 2023Read more
On 17 July 2023, the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) published two important papers in relation to hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). HAVS, then known as Vibration White Finger, was first prescribed as an industrial disease by the IIAC over 40 years ago following the publication of its Command Paper Cm 8350 in 1981. The background…
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4 December 2023Read more
Following on from our October 2022 Rugby Union article on instrumented mouthguards, World Rugby will now be adopting mouthguards with smart technology that measures the force of impacts to the head in real time during matches. The mouthguards have already been used in the inaugural WXV competition and will be mandatory in World Rugby games…
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9 November 2023Read more
An award of damages in an asbestosis claim is reasonably substantial, often in the region of six figures. It is almost always made on a provisional basis, a consequence of which is that, unless the return clauses are activated, special damages are usually lower than general damages. Therefore, the award for general damages is likely…
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9 October 2023Read more
What’s wrong with this picture (taken from this Breathe Freely Toolbox Talk)? Introduction In July of 2023, as I walked from the Combined Court Centre in Sheffield in the company of other disease lawyers, we passed a construction site that bore the impression of compliance with the Construction Design & Management Regulations 2015: a modern,…
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1 August 2023Read more
Whether assessing the likely award of general damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity (“PSLA”) on behalf of a Claimant, setting a reserve or considering a Part 36 offer for a Defendant, it is important to ensure that one can be as accurate as possible in the assessment of general damages for PSLA. In…
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19 July 2023Read more
Audiometric testing of employees has played a central role in the management of risk of exposure of workers to excessive levels of noise in industry for many decades. Audiometry can detect early damage to hearing. Typically where used by prudent employers, the testing would have comprised self-recorded automated audiometry (such as Bekesy audiograms). The reliability and relevance…
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4 July 2023Read more
Since the late 1990s, the courts have approached the issues of diagnosis and causation of Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (“HAVS”), and quantification of general damages, by reference to HAVS’s two constituent components: vascular HAVS and sensorineural HAVS. There is also evidence, however, that hand-transmitted vibration can damage the musculoskeletal system. Vascular HAVS involves damage to the…
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18 May 2023Read more
The risks associated with exposure to vibration from hand-held tools in the workplace have been increasingly well publicised over the last half-century and have resulted in specialist regulation in an effort to reduce injury. Despite that, employees suffering injury as a result of vibration exposure is not a thing of the past. The most recent…
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20 April 2023Read more
In May 2014, the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) published a command paper in which recommendations were made to add Dupuytren’s contracture, due to hand-transmitted vibration, to the list of prescribed diseases. The recommendation was to prescribe Dupuytren’s when severe enough to involve fixed flexion deformity and following exposure of at least 10 years in aggregate…
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4 April 2023Read more
‘Back in the day’ – not a phrase ever used back in the day – I recall mention in pupillage of three occupational conditions, farmer’s lung, bird fancier’s lung and bagpiper’s lung. They acquired a sort of mythological status as no such cases ever passed across the desks of my pupil supervisors. Farmer’s lung was…