Dominic Collingwood, a specialist asbestos lawyer based at Corries Solicitors Ltd in York, has welcomed the recent Court ruling that the Department of Trade and Industry were responsible for dockers safety in the 1950s and 1960s.

High Court Judge, Mr Justice Silber, made the decision which effectively allowed retired docker, Robert Thompson, to take legal action along with Winifred Rice, a docker’s widow.

They can now pursue claims against the Government. Until 1967 dock workers were employed on a casual basis under the National Dock Labour Board Scheme, set up by the Government in the late 1940s to organise labour arrangements at ports.

Lawyers acting for the DTI had argued that the Board were not employers but simply hired and arranged labour for shipping and stevedoring companies.

Dominic Collingwood said:

“Having spent my formative years in the legal profession in Hull I am only too familiar with the legacy of disease left by the handling of asbestos cargoes in ports and docks.

Cases for injured dockers have always been very difficult, mainly due to the fact that authorities have always refused to accept any responsibility with the safety of men working under the NDLB scheme.

This case is a small step in the right direction but it is a case that the DTI will not sit back and take lightly. The DTI have been granted leave to appeal and we will continue to fight on behalf of all those exposed to asbestos in this way”.