Posted By John Richards Ambulance chasing solicitors ? I think the whole asbestos thing has been done-to-death on here in the past. Opinion seemed divided between "white asbestos isn't a problem" and "moaning compensation seekers" Although everyone seemed quiet about "the biggest occupational health disaster"

Posted By Andrew Murdy The issues covered relate to exposure to asbestos which has the potential to cause fatal lung diseases as we know. The compensation issue relates to the diagnosis of plaques which are indicative of exposure to asbestos although they don't affect lung function, hence why compensation claims are being turned down as no 'harm' in terms of function is caused. Of course, if you get one of the nasty diseases then compensation is likely if occupational exposure can be shown. But of course, a lot of lung diseases can be caused by other things (smoking is a good example) so not all cases caused by asbestos are identified and in any case there can be non-occupational exposure as well (brake maintenance at home, asbestos garage demolition, etc.). The really interesting thing is that in some places asbestos use is increasing so some countries (Russia for example) are currently building a time bomb! And when you try to manage that in accordance with Western standards life becomes very tricky. And of course people earn money from working in asbestos mines so that is hard. It's a complex situation and isn't likely to go away or get any easier in the next 30 years.