Shadow of asbestos still falls on families today

The Health and Safety Executive’s latest figures report 2,218 UK deaths from mesothelioma (an asbestos-related cancer) in 2023, while thousands more suffer other asbestos-related conditions. Most diagnoses stem from exposure decades ago, yet millions of tons of asbestos remain in Scottish buildings, meaning exposure persists. This ongoing health risk underscores the need for robust litigation frameworks to secure justice and may inform relentless efforts of the insurance industry to resist claims. From the late 1960s, asbestos use shifted from shipyards to construction and manufacturing, exposing generations of tradespeople and those in the schools, hospitals and factories they built. The evolving exposure pattern triggered new legal challenges.

Two issues dominate litigation. First, Duty of Care: a legal question about responsibility and risk. In considering the matter, courts examine historical knowledge of risk, dust levels, expert evidence, contemporaneous legislation and industry guidance. The year 1965 is now broadly considered a watershed year, beyond which ignorance of the risk is indefensible, though what constitutes ‘significant’ exposure remains highly contested.

The second, frequently conflated with the first, is causation. Even if breach of duty is established, the pursuer must show exposure caused the disease. Historically, these disputes arose only in asbestosis and asbestos-related lung cancer, where high exposure levels are required to show a doubling of risk. More recently, causation is challenged even in mesothelioma cases. The “one fibre” principle prevailed for years but now low-level exposure claims face scrutiny, meaning expert testimony increasingly includes medics, occupational hygienists, biostatisticians and epidemiologists.

An unusual insurance-driven challenge arose in the landmark case Crozier v Scottish Power, which reached the Supreme Court last October after a seven-year battle. The court upheld relatives’ rights to loss of society claims under the Damages (Scotland) Act 2011, delivering an unequivocal statutory interpretation.

Limitation also remains contentious. Current law bars any claim for subsequent asbestos-related conditions if no action is taken within three years of an initial diagnosis, the most striking example being where someone diagnosed with pleural plaques (a non-symptomatic benign condition) does not seek compensation for plaques but later develops symptomatic asbestos-related disease. The Scottish Law Commission Report on Damages for Personal Injury (December 2024) recommends urgent resolution of this situation and includes a Draft Bill which is expected to be adopted by the Scottish Parliament this year.

This reform could transform the legal landscape, ensure fairer outcomes and reinforce Scotland’s commitment to justice in occupational disease cases.

Asbestos litigation in Scotland remains critically important in 2026. Persistently high disease rates, evolving case law, complex liability and causation challenges, and imminent reforms ensure these claims will shape Scotland’s legal landscape for years to come. For practitioners, policymakers, and families, the message remains clear: asbestos may be a material of the past, but its consequences still define the present.

Laura Blane is a Partner, Thompsons Solicitors Scotland