Illness and disease caused by your work
An occupational illness claim concerns a condition caused or made worse by your working environment over time, rather than by a single accident. Industrial deafness, hand-arm vibration syndrome, occupational asthma and dust-related lung disease are the most common examples.
The legal principle is the same as any workplace claim: your employer had a duty to protect you from foreseeable harm, including harm from noise, vibration, dust, fumes and chemicals. Where they failed to assess the risk, provide protection or monitor your health, and you developed a condition as a result, you are entitled to compensation.
These claims often concern exposure that ended years or even decades ago, sometimes with employers who no longer trade. That is not the obstacle people assume — insurers who covered those employers at the time remain liable, and tracing them is routine work. We act on a No Win, No Fee basis throughout.
Conditions we claim for
The occupational illnesses we deal with most frequently are:
- Industrial hearing loss and tinnitus Noise-induced hearing loss from mills, foundries, factories, engineering and construction where ear protection was not provided or enforced.
- Hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) Numbness, tingling, blanching fingers and grip loss from prolonged use of grinders, breakers, drills and chainsaws.
- Carpal tunnel syndrome Nerve compression at the wrist caused by repetitive or forceful work, or by vibrating tools.
- Occupational asthma and COPD Respiratory disease from flour, wood dust, isocyanates, welding fume, silica and other airborne workplace hazards.
- Asbestos-related disease Pleural thickening, asbestosis and mesothelioma, with symptoms often appearing 20 to 40 years after exposure.
- Occupational dermatitis Skin disease from prolonged contact with chemicals, solvents, cement, latex or persistent wet work.
- Repetitive strain injury Tendon and soft tissue conditions from repetitive tasks, poor workstation design or high-volume production work.
- Work-related stress and psychiatric injury Where an employer knew of a real risk of psychiatric harm and failed to act on it.
Symptoms that may indicate an occupational illness
Because these conditions develop gradually, they are often attributed to age. The following are worth investigating:
- Difficulty following conversation in noise
- Ringing or buzzing in the ears
- Turning the television up over time
- Numbness or tingling in the fingers
- Fingers turning white in the cold
- Losing grip or dropping tools
- Breathlessness on exertion
- A persistent cough or wheeze
- Chest tightness that eases away from work
- Cracked, sore or blistered skin on the hands
How we build an occupational illness claim
These claims are evidence-heavy, and much of the work is historical:
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Medical diagnosis We arrange an examination by an appropriate specialist — an audiologist, respiratory physician or vascular surgeon — to confirm the condition and its likely cause.
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Reconstructing your work history We obtain HMRC employment records and your own recollection to establish every employer, job and period of exposure, sometimes going back forty years.
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Tracing employers and insurers Where a company has dissolved, we trace the employers’ liability insurer who covered it at the time using the ELTO database and historic policy searches.
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Establishing exposure Witness evidence from former colleagues, HSE records, company documents and expert engineering evidence on noise, vibration or dust levels in that workplace.
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Apportioning between employers Where several employers contributed, liability is divided between them according to the exposure each caused. We deal with all of them.
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Negotiation and settlement Insurers frequently argue the condition is age-related or was caused elsewhere. Independent medical and engineering evidence is what answers that.
How much compensation could you receive?
Occupational illness compensation is assessed in the same two parts, though the financial element is shaped by the fact that the condition is usually permanent and progressive. No solicitor can promise a figure at the outset, but we can explain exactly how the calculation is built.
General damages — the injury itself
This covers the pain, suffering and loss of amenity caused by the injury: its severity, how long it lasts and what it prevents you doing. Courts value this using the Judicial College Guidelines, supported by the independent medical evidence obtained in your case.
Special damages — your financial losses
This covers hearing aids and their lifetime replacement, treatment and medication, lost earnings where the condition ended or limited your working life, help around the home, and the cost of equipment or adaptations you have needed.
Do not assume it is too late. In these claims the three-year period runs from when you first knew your condition was probably work-related, not from when the exposure happened. Many successful claims concern employment that ended thirty or more years ago.
What if my employer no longer exists?
This is the most common reason people never make an occupational illness claim, and it is almost always the wrong reason. Employers' liability insurance has been compulsory in the UK since 1972, and the insurer who covered your employer at the time of your exposure remains liable even if the company itself was wound up decades ago.
Finding that insurer is a defined process. The Employers' Liability Tracing Office maintains a searchable database of historic policies; beyond that, Companies House records, trade association archives and specialist historic policy searches fill in the gaps. We do this work as a matter of routine.
Where more than one employer contributed to your condition — common in industries where workers moved between similar sites — liability is apportioned between them according to the exposure each is responsible for. You do not need to identify or pursue them individually; that is our job.
Time limits for occupational illness claims
The three-year period runs from your date of knowledge: the point at which you first knew, or could reasonably have been expected to know, that your condition was significant and probably caused by your work. For a gradual illness that is usually the date of diagnosis, or the date a doctor first linked your symptoms to your employment.
This is why claims for exposure that ended in the 1970s or 1980s are still routinely brought and won today. If you have recently been told that your hearing loss, breathing problem or hand condition is work-related, the clock has likely only just started. If you are unsure where you stand, ask us — it costs nothing to find out.