Contact Dermatitis Compensation: Will a letter from my GP about my dermatitis affect my compensation claim against my employer in the United Kingdom?

Contact Dermatitis Compensation Claim Question

I developed contact dermatitis from working as a carpenter – having daily exposure to saw dust, epoxy resin, acetone, some nasty marine primers, paint stripping acid and powdered latex gloves.

I was about to go to the doctor to request a letter to prove to my employer that it is a manageable condition so they don’t move me to another site where I would get far less job satisfaction.

But now I am thinking that it might jeopardise my chance of claiming against them for negligence.

Will this letter make a difference to my contact dermatitis claim, if and when I do claim?

Carpenter Contact Dermatitis Claim

Contact Dermatitis Solicitor Response

This is a difficult question to answer without knowing the full facts of your potential contact dermatitis claim against your employer.

I recommend you take the following factors into consideration:

1. Discuss your potential contact dermatitis claim with one of the UK’s top industrial injury solicitors

Although I can provide general guidance from the information you have provided – the best way to get a proper answer is to speak to a specialist industrial injury claim UK solicitor about the actual circumstances of how you developed the industrial dermatitis, over what time period, the safety precautions training provided, the safety equipment provided and any representations made following your injury.

Of course, I will be happy to speak with you in person – you need only click on the link next to my photograph at the top of the page or alternatively you may wish to speak to another specialist workplace accident solicitor.

Using the link below you will find the answer to a previous web user’s question about how to choose the best specialist solicitor to discuss your claim for compensation with.

Click UK personal injury solicitor to learn what you should look our for when choosing a UK industrial injury solicitor to make your contact dermatitis claim.

2. Will a GP letter jeopardise your industrial disease claim?

The answer to this is most likely to be a “yes” It may affect the amount of compensation you can claim for your current symptoms – if you are volunteering medical evidence to assert that the dermatitis can be easily controlled it may be suggested that you shouldn’t be suffering symptoms if there is simple medication available which you believe will stop this happening.

Also, if your employers accepted your GP letter and you went on to develop even worse dermatitis which might not be able to be controlled – it might be seen that you consented to the risks and actively encouraged your employer to believe that no further injury was likely.

Click industrial accident to read an article I have written setting out the different steps in the UK occupational injury claim process

3. Is your GP sufficiently expert to give a definitive opinion on controlling the symptoms of contact dermatitis?

I would respectfully suggest that your GP is not a consultant dermatologist and as such is not able to give a definitive expert opinion. What your GP genuinely thinks might be accurate about this occupational skin disease condition might very well not be in line with current thinking from a top medical consultant who specialises in skin conditions such as dermatitis.

Until you see such a consultant – perhaps as a referral from your GP – I would not take the risk of trying to persuade your employer to continue your exposure to harmful chemicals.

4. Loss of job satisfaction as a result of industrial injury in the workplace

Remember – if your occupational skin disease results in you having to do a job which is either paid less or is not as satisfying as your previous job – further compensation can be claimed for lost income.

5. Free online / telephone assistance with assessing your contact dermatitis claim

See our skin disease claim solicitor online legal help to see how we can help you further for free – including asking your own question or arranging a callback to assess your contact dermatitis claim.