Coke Oven Worker Compensation

If you have developed a health condition after working in a coke fuel oven environment, you could claim coke oven worker compensation.

Coke fuel production was once a major part of the UK industrial industry, with many coke fuel production centres being in operation across the country during the 1970s and 1980s.  Coke fuel is still in production today but on a smaller scale. Many coke fuel workers have been, or are being exposed to toxic by-products as a result of their work.

If you have developed a health condition or illness as a result of being exposed to dangerous chemicals and gasses while working as a coke oven employee, you could be able to claim coke oven worker compensation.

Contact Jefferies Solicitors to find out how much compensation you can claim.

Call our specialists on 0800 342 3206 or fill out our online form to arrange a no-obligation confidential conversation about your accident.

Coke Oven Worker Compensation: Health Issues

If you have developed health problems due to exposure to dangerous chemicals or gasses, you could be able to claim compensation as a result. These by-products include dust, tar, oils and gases which were created during production. Exposure to these toxic substances can cause a range of serious, life-threatening respiratory and skin illnesses.

The most common illnesses or health conditions that current or ex-coke oven workers suffer from are:

• Lung cancer
• Respiratory disease
• Lung disease
• Bronchitis

If you’ve suffered from a coke fuel-related health condition, you could be able to claim coke oven worker compensation. Following court proceedings in 2018, British Coal has admitted that there was a breach of duty in their failure to protect their employees from exposure to dust and fumes that were present at coke production plants. Similarly, there have been successful actions brought against British Steel for similar failures to protect their employees who work at coke production plants.

There is a precedent for making a claim against your employer for their failure to protect you from harmful fumes, chemicals or gases while in the workplace. If you would like to make a coke fuel compensation claim, you should speak to us.

We recently helped a client claim compensation after working in a coke oven environment at a British Steel factory. Read about the case here.

Coke Fuel Workers Protections

If you work in a coke fuel oven, your employer should provide you with certain protections to help lessen the likelihood that you are going to be exposed to any harmful by-products. These protections include:

• New employee safety training which focuses upon informing new employees how to safely perform their job function. It should focus upon the safety rules and how to deal with any hazards they may encounter while at their job. It is recommended that employees are given some sort of test to determine whether they understand the training they have been given.

• Refresher training – your employer should regularly give you refresher training to ensure that you and your co-workers know how to safely perform your job role without issue. If there is a health and safety issue at work, employers must implement a refresher training course for all employees,

• Regular risk assessments and health and safety inspections – the work area should be regularly assessed and any risk areas should be identified and dealt with. This helps to decrease the likelihood of an accident occurring.

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – employees should be given personal protective equipment to help protect them from any by-products that they might come into contact with. This PPE should include a mask, gloves and a body suit.

If you believe that your employer has failed to keep you safe in the workplace and you have developed a coke fuel-related health condition as a result, you could be able to claim compensation. To find out how much compensation you could be able to claim, speak to Jefferies Solicitors.

Coke Oven Worker Compensation

All personal injury cases are unique and so the amount of compensation that is awarded in each case is also unique. The amount of compensation that is awarded is determined by looking at two distinct factors – general damages and special damages.

General Damages

The pain and suffering that your injuries have caused is the main factor that is used to determine how much compensation you are owed. This will usually be determined by undergoing a medical examination, from which a report is created that outlines the length of time the injuries will take to heal as well as their severity.

Our compensation calculator gives an indication of how much you might be entitled to based upon your injuries. Jefferies Solicitors will take these different details relating to your injury into account when calculating how much compensation you should be awarded, which will then be put forward to the opposing side and the judge.

Special Damages

However, compensation also takes into account any financial losses that you might have suffered as a result of your injuries, such as a loss of earnings due to being unable to return to work. If you have had to pay for treatment or travel to treatment, compensation may also be able to cover this as well. Therefore, you should keep any receipts or other documents that help to outline the extent of your financial losses, as caused by your accident/injuries.

Contact Jefferies Solicitors Today

Our experts at Jefferies Solicitors are well-experienced in dealing with a range of different case types. We understand how traumatic sustaining an injury can be and so we want to make the process of claiming compensation as stress-free as possible. No matter exactly where you are located throughout England and Wales, we can help process your case.

At first, we will need some initial details about the specifics of your injuries and how these have impacted your life. Please contact us today on 0800 342 3206 or through our online form to get started. A member of our team will quickly be in touch to discuss your case, confidentiality is ensured with all our clients.