Future claims not helped by screening

Risk managers have been warned that screening employees for asbestos -related diseases will not be enough to avoid massive future liability claims.

Speaking at a long-tail liability seminar, one risk manager suggested health screening employees for asbestos-related problems might enable employers to ring-fence potential liability claims.

But experts said the extended latency period between contracting asbestos-related diseases and identifying them made it impossible to identify potential claims.

Lane Clark & Peacock actuary Philip Towell said it was difficult to ring-fence potential claimants because of the "long latency period between exposure to asbestos and disease manifestation".