A landmark decision in New Zealand means that victims of asbestos exposure outside of the workplace will now be entitled to compensation from the country’s Accident Compensation Commission.
Angela Calver, whose sister-in-law died from mesothelioma, has spent four years fighting to have coverage for asbestos exposure victims extended to those who didn’t work with the material and were exposed in other ways.
Deanna, Angela’s sister-in-law, was exposed to asbestos fibres when she hugged her father, who was an electrician. The case was referred to as the ‘hug of death’ case.
“Deanna does remember going on worksites with her dad and breaking up fibre boards and things like that,” Ms Calver said.
The decision will set a precedent for other victims of asbestos exposure, in what many experts are calling the country’s third wave. The first was the swathes of workers who were involved in manufacturing or mining asbestos-containing products, and the second were tradesman, plumbers and electricians who encountered it in their day-to-day work.
Ms Calver describes the third wave as “the women who washed the husband’s clothes, the kids that hugged their parents, and the DIYers who knew no better, or lived next to a house that got demolished.”
“Anyone who has been exposed should lodge a claim with ACC to say I’ve been exposed and there is potential, so those things are on record, because they are in for the fight of their life if they get mesothelioma.”
Ms Calver’s solicitor, Beatrix Woodhouse, explained that the precedent meant there was now assistance for mesothelioma sufferers and those patients of other asbestos-related diseases whose exposure transpired outside of their work.