Nurse awarded £345,000 compensation as a result of latex allergy.

Alison Dugmore, a nurse was recently awarded £345,000 compensation by Cardiff County Court as a result of an allergy developed after using latex gloves. The nurse experienced asthma, skin problems and anaphylactic attacks and was forced to end her career.

Ms Dugmore, won her case at the Appeal Court in London in November 2002.

The facts of the case were that the claimant wore latex gloves in the course of her employment. From 1990 until 1996 she worked at Singleton Hospital (Swansea NHS Trust) and from January 1997 in Morriston Hospital (Morriston NHS Trust). Her allergy to latex first developed in 1993 and in 1996 she suffered such a serious reaction to the latex gloves that she had to attend the A&E department and was off work for three days. Following her return she was supplied with vinyl gloves. When she moved to Morriston Hospital she was also supplied with vinyl gloves.

The claim was framed both in negligence and under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health ('COSHH') Regulations 1988 and 1994. (The equivalent regulations in Northern Ireland are 1990 and 1995) Regulation 7 (1) provides that "Every employer shall ensure that the exposure of his employees to a substance hazardous to health is either prevented or, where this is not reasonably practicable, adequately controlled." The Court of Appeal concluded that regulation 7 (1) uses the language of strict liability and the duty on the employer is therefore absolute. Ms Dugmore would succeed if she could show:

1. She had been exposed to latex
2. The exposure caused the allergy

It was found that her employer could have provided her with vinyl gloves, as opposed to latex and avoided her exposure to latex. The Court of Appeal held that it was for the hospital to prove that it was not reasonably practicable for them to do this. They also stated that there was a duty on an employer to go out and find out about substances that may be hazardous to employees' health.

The compensation claim was against Swansea NHS Trust and Morrison NHS Trust, and 240,000 of her payout was for personal injury, loss of future earnings and loss of pension. The extra £114,000 represented "punitive interest" reflecting the fact that she had offered to settle the case with the NHS trusts earlier in the proceedings.