Legal action against road haulage company: C Butt Ltd for mesothelioma

This case is typical of many mesothelioma cases we have taken over the years that involved the transportation of asbestos and asbestos products for haulage companies. The following is a recent case against C Butt Ltd.

C Butt Ltd is based in Northampton and provides Road Haulage Services nationwide. The company has 16 operating centres and provided dedicated & shared-user warehousing.

Mr B worked for C Butt Ltd as a HGV driver for 11 years. He was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma and sadly died the same year.

Our solicitors were instructed after his death and relied on a witness statement to build a case against C Butt.

The witness, Mr S worked for C Butt as a class 1 driver in general haulage at the same time and recalls regular visits to an asbestos factory to make deliveries and take collections. The deliveries were made to a building site.

When the asbestos sheets were delivered, the drivers would have to help to unload them as there were no forklift trucks on the building sites. They had to take off and roll up the cover sheet, which would disturb the asbestos dust. Then the ties were cut, and the asbestos sheets were unloaded by hand, one sheet at a time.

“We would slide the asbestos sheets off the vehicle, one by one, for the builders to take away and therefore we would be handling the asbestos materials, thereby further exposing us to asbestos dust . . . The asbestos sheets were corrugated roofing sheets and I am certain that they contained asbestos.”

The drivers were never provided with a mask or given any warnings about the dangers of asbestos. They had to provide their own overalls, which would be dusty after collecting and delivering the asbestos from the factory.