International Workers' Memorial Day and the tactics of the asbestos industry
For International Workers’ Memorial Day 28 April 2025, Partner Joanne Candlish reflects on more than 30 years of bringing successful legal claims against industrial titans whose workers suffered lethal asbestos exposure.
Posted on 28 April 2025
International Workers' Memorial Day was first brought to the UK in 1992, by the late great Hazards Campaigner, Tommy Harte. It serves as a day to “Remember the Dead: Fight for the Living.” On 28 April every year we come together to remember those who have lost their lives to work and to renew our commitment to fight for the living and make work safe. Coincidentally, 1992 was also the year that I started my legal career and as we reflect on those we have lost through work, I was reminded of one of the first asbestos cases I worked on, all those years ago...
Asbestos exposure and Turner & Newall (T&N)
I have been acting for asbestos victims and their families since I first started my legal career at a small high street legal aid practice. One of the first cases I assisted on was for a widow, Annie, whose husband, Joseph, had died of mesothelioma following his exposure to asbestos as a 14-year-old in the 1930s when he briefly worked for Turner Asbestos Cement (TAC), part of the Turner & Newall Group, in their factory in Widnes.
Turner & Newall was founded in 1871 in Rochdale and was the first company in the United Kingdom to weave asbestos fibres into cloth. As a result, they saw growing success and changed the company name to Turner Brothers Asbestos Company in 1879. The company continued to expand its offering and its reach into other industries, opening an asbestos cement manufacturing plant in Trafford Park before World War One. This plant developed one of their most well-known products, Trafford tile asbestos cement sheets. Thanks to their expansion, Turner Brothers Asbestos Company merged with Washington Chemical Company, Newall’s Insulation Company and J. W. Roberts in 1920. With the merger, the company changed its name to Turner & Newall.
Despite taking asbestos out of the company’s name, Turner & Newall remained committed to utilizing the toxin in their manufacturing process. They continued to expand their product line and increased the number of factories to meet demand. The company had asbestos manufacturing factories in Trafford Park, Widnes, Erith, Rhoose, Tamworth, Ditton, Ballyclare in Northern Ireland, Chapel-en-le-Firth, Caernarvon, Wellingborough, Rochdale, Hindley Green, Washington and County Durham.
By this point, the dangers of asbestos were becoming better known. In 1955, a study was conducted in Rochdale that proved the link between asbestos and cancer. Turner & Newall did not want the study to become public and eventually had their own scientist publish a paper to discredit the study.
By 1973, the company had nine principal manufacturing subsidiaries in the UK. Despite the rising health concerns around the use of asbestos, and the growing number of workers developing diseases and speaking out, Turner & Newall continued to use the mineral in production until the 1980s. Around this time, the company began to see a decline and was later purchased by an American company, Federal-Mogul, in 1998.
Due to their widespread and consistent asbestos use in their products, Turner & Newall is noted as having been one of the largest asbestos conglomerates in the world.
Asbestos related death
Going back to Annie… You would have thought that a claim for an asbestos-related death, on behalf of a widow whose husband had worked for an asbestos manufacturing company, would have been straightforward. This is probably why a young trainee lawyer had the case in the first place. Sadly, this was not the case. Turner and Newall fought us tooth and nail. At that point in time, they seemed to have no limit to the resources they were prepared to utilise to fight asbestos claims. They began by arguing that the exposure had occurred so long ago that they could not have known of the dangers of asbestos. You will recall I said that Annie’s husband, Joseph, had worked for T&N in the 1930s, from about 1931 until 1933. Fortunately, the Asbestos Industry Regulations 1931 came into force on 1 March 1932. Despite T&N arguing that Joseph had left their employment before these regulations came into force, and despite the lack of documentation, Annie was able to prove that Joseph had still been working there in 1932, as this was when she had met him.
The case was set for trial when, just months before it was due to begin, T&N obtained permission from the court to re-amend their Defence. They argued that, although they now admitted that Joseph had worked at the Widnes factory from age 14 for about two years (from 1931 - 1933), had been exposed to asbestos at the factory, and had died of mesothelioma, they claimed that chrysotile (white asbestos), was harmless and could not cause mesothelioma. They further alleged that, at the time of Joseph’s employment, only white asbestos was used at the TAC factory in Widnes.
At this time (1996/1997), asbestos was not yet banned in the UK. Turner & Newall, together with other asbestos manufacturers, were actively lobbying various governments to declare that white asbestos was safe. To this day, there is still no worldwide ban on its use, and it was during this period that campaign groups were calling for a UK ban.
We had no option but to seek an adjournment of the trial to enable us to gather the evidence we required to challenge this Defence. Sadly, Annie died when the trial was adjourned, as if she had been hanging on for the court date but could not hold on any longer. The fight was taken over by the adult children, who felt as did I, that T&N should not be allowed to get away with this.
T&N’s shameful tactics continued. In support of their argument that they only used white asbestos at the Widnes factory (in the period 1931 - 1933), they tried to bury me in paperwork and disclosed a warehouse full of documents. I had to attend their premises in Trafford Park to inspect the documents personally and to try to find some evidence to challenge the Defence. I had no idea what I was looking for, or where to start.
Turner and Newall fought us tooth and nail. At that point in time, they seemed to have no limit to the resources they were prepared to utilise to fight asbestos claims.
Joanne Candlish
Is white asbestos safe?
Absolutely not! All asbestos is carcinogenic, and all asbestos types are linked with asbestos-related diseases including asbestosis and mesothelioma: a type of cancer almost always linked to asbestos exposure. It's a type of “Killer Dust”, a title which first hit the newspaper headlines in the UK in October 1965.
Nowadays, thankfully, the whole “white asbestos is harmless” debate is purely academic as it has been proven that there is no such thing as pure white asbestos as it is all contaminated at source with Tremolite, an amphibole asbestos that can cause mesothelioma. However, back then this was very much a live argument and one which, based on the science of the day, we could not win in court.
Our medical expert (a titan in asbestos cases at the time), Dr A John Robertson, advised me to contact a colleague of his who was a retired Chief Medical Officer to HM Inspector of factories, Dr Kevin Woodthorpe Browne. During the subsequent five-day trial in the County Court in Liverpool, he gave evidence that at least one of the products being made at the Widnes factory at the time required the addition of blue or brown asbestos to strengthen the mix or speed up the setting process. After a reserved Judgment, we won, and not long afterwards the so-called “white asbestos is safe” campaign also failed. Asbestos was finally banned in the United Kingdom in 1999.
Mesothelioma and Me
Discover more about our powerful campaign, 'Mesothelioma and Me', dedicated to spotlighting the devastating dangers and impact of asbestos.
Asbestos claims in 2025
I mentioned earlier that an American company, Federal-Mogul, purchased Turner & Newall, but it was quickly overwhelmed with asbestos claims. As a result, Turner & Newall filed for bankruptcy in 2001. A trust fund was formed to compensate asbestos victims, but at a fraction of what they could have received from the courts.
More than 30 years later I have successfully acted for hundreds of asbestos victims and their families whose lives have changed as a result of a mesothelioma or asbestos related lung cancer diagnosis. I would like to say that the sort of tactics the defendants used in my first asbestos trial do not arise today but sadly, this is not the case. Cape (another major UK Asbestos Manufacturer), to this day continues to fight these cases almost to the doorstep of the court and continues to either fail to disclose relevant documents or drown us in paperwork.
There seems to be no depth to which the asbestos and the insurance industries will not sink in an attempt to avoid compensating victims and their families, but I am always ready to uncover the truth and to obtain justice, helping those severely affected by this dangerous mineral. This is why we are supporting the Asbestos Victims Support Group Forum campaign to force Cape to contribute £10 million towards funding research to help discover new treatments and a cure for mesothelioma. If you are interested in learning more about the tactics of the asbestos industry, please listen to the BBC podcast Assume Nothing: Killer Dust.
There seems to be no depth to which the asbestos and the insurance industries will not sink in an attempt to avoid compensating victims and their families, but I am always ready to uncover the truth and to obtain justice.
Joanne Candlish
Our national Leigh Day asbestos team has decades of experience and has been involved in all the major test cases in this area of law. If you or anyone you know is suffering from an asbestos related condition, please do not hesitate to contact us for free confidential advice on 0800 689 5854 for our London office, or 0151 305 2760 for our Liverpool office. Alternatively, submit your asbestos-related enquiry by filling out this form.
Joanne Candlish
Joanne is a highly-experienced asbestos and mesothelioma claims partner
Mesothelioma And Me
"Mesothelioma And Me” is a powerful campaign dedicated to spotlighting the devastating dangers of asbestos and the profound impact mesothelioma has on individuals and their families. Through this compelling film series, our clients share deeply personal, heartfelt stories, offering raw and honest insights into their journeys living with mesothelioma.
