THE TERAMO COURT HAS RECOGNIZED THAT THE FORMER RAILWAY ENGINEER DIONISIO MERLI DIED DUE TO EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS CONTAINED IN STATE RAILWAY CONvoys. COMPENSATE THE HEIRS
The Court of Teramo condemned INAIL to pay approximately 150 thousand euros to the heirs of the former train driver Dionisio Merli. This compensation includes arrears, widow’s pension and increases in the Victims’ Fund. Merli died at the age of 64 from lung adenocarcinoma caused byexposure to asbestos. For twenty-seven years, he worked without adequate protective equipment, coming into contact with asbestos on a daily basis.
“The engines and carriages – Arpa technician Omero Negrisolo testified – they were all insulated with impressive quantities of various types of asbestos, including trisophile, white asbestos, serpentine otherwise called, and also blue asbestos called crocidolite and amosite, crocidolite is scientifically proven to be much more dangerous than trisophile and therefore subject to restrictions since the 1980s world and European competitions and most recently in 1985 by Italy. The quantities of asbestos varied from around 100 kilograms per carriage to well over a few tonnes per carriage and especially locomotives”.
The investigation
The trial investigation revealed that all FS locomotives used during Merli’s career contained asbestos. Merli worked for the State Railways from 20 November 1974 to 8 September 2001, initially as assistant engineer and then as engineer, driving steam, diesel and electric locomotives.
According to INAIL’s own literature, traction vehicles from 1950 included asbestos components, such as engine gaskets, electrical and braking systems, external casing and part of the internal areas. Asbestos, used for its fireproof and insulating qualities, released dust and fibers harmful to the respiratory system.
The Court established that Merli carried out maintenance operations on a weekly basis, carrying out “normal visits” with disassembly and reassembly of panels containing asbestos e “reduced visits” to verify the functioning of the traction vehicle and its equipment.
This exhibition, with dust concentrations equal to 1,170 ff/lincluded asbestos and carcinogens such as benzene, benzidine and PAHs. While carrying out his tasks, he handled the asbestos dryly, without personal protection and in the absence of localized exhaust fans, exposing himself to harmful fumes and fibers inside the cabins.
The worker must only prove that he has carried out the work listed in the table
The Court confirmed that the worker only has to prove that he has carried out the work listed in the table and that he is suffering from the indicated disease. Thus he is exempted from proving the causal link, since the legal system has already established the causal correlation (Cass. n. 3207 of 2019, Cass. n. 16248 of 2018, Cass. n. 13024 of 2017, Cass. n. 23653 of 2016).
INAIL had initially rejected the appeal of Merli’s widow and daughter, claiming that the death was due to the fact that he was a smoker. In 2020, the family members, assisted by the lawyer Ezio Bonannipresident ofNational Asbestos Observatoryhave appealed to the Labor Judge of the Court of Teramo.
INAIL’s denialism forces judicial action
«This sentence – underlines Bonanni – it is important because it recognizes lung cancer even in smoker workers which INAIL, despite numerous convictions, continues to deny that it is an asbestos-related disease, forcing the families of the deceased to take legal action. Now we will also take action towards the INPS for the contribution increases and the repayment of the survivor’s pension”.
The ReNaM Report
The seventh edition of the INAIL ReNaM Report reports approximately 696 cases of mesothelioma in the rolling stock sector, of which 86 among train drivers. These data represent only the tip of the iceberg, since, as demonstrated by the case of the former train driver, other pathologies linked to asbestos must also be considered, including asbestosis, lung and laryngeal cancer.