British rail in the UK has paid the family of a former Swindon railway worker £60,000 in compensation for his death.
Mr Smith died in November 2010 from asbestos related cancer; he worked for British Rail for 26 years and during this time was continuously exposed to asbestos. His job over these years was to plaster white asbestos over steam boilers.
Many others who worked along side Mr Smith have also passed away from asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma.
Asbestos exposure was common for these rail workers in the past and it has been reported that in Swindon alone, around 107 people have died from asbestos related illness in the last three years.
These rail workers are certainly not the only ones who were exposed to asbestos. In Australia for a large part of the 1900s, asbestos was used widely all around the country.
Asbestos was used in so many manufactured goods thus exposure spread to many people from different occupations including railway workers. Asbestos was used in the manufacture of trains, the brakes and clutches were often themselves made from asbestos materials.
This exposure to asbestos in the past has been a major health risk for so many rail workers around the world, including Australia. This exposure to asbestos can see these rail workers develop asbestos related diseases just like Phillip Smith did including the disease mesothelioma.
There have been many asbestos compensation claims in Australia form former railway workers.
It is noted that in South Australia, there is a memorial to all those who died from asbestos conditions, including mesothelioma, at Jack Watkins park located on the site of the old Islington Railway Yard. Like in other states, asbestos compensation in South Australia, including mesothelioma compensation, has been paid to former South Australian railway workers who developed asbestos conditions such as mesothelioma.
