Current and former Royal Marine Commandos are taking the Ministry of Defence to court after claiming they were exposed to asbestos whilst training in Latvia.
Edward Hill, an ex-marine engineer and vehicle mechanic claims their bosses breached their rights by making them sleep in a garage that allegedly contained the banned substance.
The 46-year-old, who is now studying law, is in the process of suing the MoD, for breaching his, and 259 other soldiers’ human rights.
Asbestos has been banned in the UK since the 90s, as it can cause fatal cancers such as mesothelioma if you are exposed to it.
Mr. Hill claims that he has been suffering from a persistent cough and is more sensitive to irritants in the air since he returned from Latvia four years ago.
He now believes the MoD should be held liable for exposing troops to the substance, in the same way, other civil employers are prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive.
Mr. Hill told Mail Online that the senior commanding officers who allegedly ordered the troops to sleep amongst the asbestos are being ‘let off the hook.’
“It could be that we get an asbestos-related disease and die before we ever see a penny – what we’re trying to do is have that fight now rather than lying in a hospital bed 20 years from now.
‘If this had been a civilian employer someone would have been held accountable,” he said.
Mr. Hill is crowdfunding the legal fees, as the case being filed at the High Court is expected to cost around £ 2 million.
The incident which led Mr. Hill to believe he was exposed to asbestos revolves around two training exercises, Baltic Protector 2019 (BP19) and Sabre Strike 2018 (SbS18) which were conducted at the Skrunda-1 training area in Latvia, an ex-Soviet military base 95 miles from Riga.
The base was abandoned in the late 1990s and later bought back by the Latvian government for use as a playground for war games.
BP19 was reportedly carried out to sharpen skills in operating in close-knit urban environments and carrying out the demolition, and during the exercise, troops were accommodated inside buildings and blew up a chimney in a controlled blast.
A Ministry of Defence report confirmed that senior officers had been aware asbestos was still present in some parts of the site, with some areas of the base sealed off, but did not fully assess the risks associated with exposure.
But Mr. Hill, who took part, claims the MoD has been less than keen to speak to soldiers about their belief that they were exposed to the hazardous substance, inhalation of which can lead to the cancer mesothelioma.
He said that the floor of the structure where they were sleeping was coated in a layer of dust and the Marines opted to place boards down and told soldiers not to sweep as a ‘belt and braces measure’ – raising troops’ suspicions things weren’t right.
But their requests to sleep outside were denied, with senior officers citing thick brambles on the ground that meant vehicles needed the outdoor space to move around.
Mr. Hill also believes the chimney blown up during the exercise may have contained asbestos – though the MoD report concluded that ‘no materials other than masonry’ were detected during a risk assessment before the explosion.
According to Mr. Hill, the assault engineers in the Marines trained in the use of explosives were not required to undergo asbestos training – despite potentially operating in hazardous warzones where the material may still be present.
He continued: “We weren’t in a position to challenge the order to sleep inside – I would’ve been prosecuted and sent to Colchester military prison for that.
“I’m an expert on asbestos now but I wasn’t then – I knew it was dangerous but that was it. ‘We all had a chat amongst ourselves about it but we couldn’t Google to find out anything about it because our phones had to be on airplane mode.
“As we were about to leave, we had a Latvian soldier on a quad bike turn up and he said: ‘Don’t worry about the asbestos, it’s all being removed.’
“And of course, as soon as someone says ‘don’t worry about the asbestos’, you start to worry about it.
What is asbestos?
Asbestos comes from mines across the world including Russia, Kazakhstan, Brazil and China. The naturally occurring mineral is made up of heat-resistant fibres and there are three main types commonly found in the UK – brown, white and blue.
Between the 1930s and the 1980s, it was mixed into cement, roofing felt, texture walls, ceiling coverings and floor tiles, and used on roofs, gutters and window seals and to lag or insulate boilers and pipes.
Risks to be aware of
If you disturb or touch asbestos, you and those around you could be at risk of developing a serious illness.
Disturbed asbestos can cause those close by to breathe in the fibres and particles, the risk of developing diseases including mesothelioma, asbestosis, asbestos-related lung cancer and pleural thickening
Asbestos-related illnesses usually develop over some time due to prolonged exposure, but asbestos is hard to identify (with fibres about 10 times smaller than the width of a human hair), these particles will likely remain in your home if you do attempt to remove it yourself.
Symptoms of asbestos exposure
According to the NHS, symptoms of asbestos exposure include the following:
- Shortness of breath
- Persistent cough
- Wheezing
- Extreme tiredness (fatigue)
- Pain in your chest or shoulder
- In more advanced cases, clubbed (swollen) fingertips
However, it can take 20 to 30 years after being exposed to asbestos before symptoms appear, and sometimes there are no symptoms.
Further reading
Guide to asbestosis – Oakwood Solicitors
Mesothelioma and asbestos related illness – Oakwood Solicitors
WHAT TO DO NEXT
Get in touch today for a no-obligation consultation. Choose one of the methods on the right-hand side of this page, or call us on 0113 200 9720 to find out how we can help you.
Liam Hill is a Solicitor and Deputy Head of the Industrial Disease Team, having trained and qualified at Oakwood Solicitors. Liam joined us in 2013 after successfully completing the Legal Practice C…
Guide to Asbestosis
What is Asbestosis? What are the symptoms? What can we do to help?
As Industrial Disease solicitors, we act for Claimants in relation to a number of different conditions, but one o…
View
Hazardous Substances at Work – What protection should you be provided with?
The law requires employers to provide adequate health and safety measures in the workplace under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations.
This includes personal p…
View
Can I still be exposed to Asbestos in 2022?
It is not a surprise that at some point in your life you will come across asbestos, especially those who are planning to buy a property that was built dating back to the early 1930s.
…
View
