Farm workers, contractors and farming families across Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire and the Pennine edge of Greater Manchester have spent decades working under asbestos cement roofs, beside unsilenced tractors and grain dryers, with chainsaws and grinders in their hands and mouldy hay in the air. The diseases that followed include mesothelioma, asbestosis, pleural thickening, noise-induced hearing loss, hand-arm vibration syndrome, farmer’s lung and occupational asthma, and the injuries include falls through fragile asbestos cement roofs, vehicle overturns, machinery entanglement and being crushed or trampled by cattle. An asbestos farm buildings claim, a farm worker hearing loss claim or an agricultural accident claim can usually still be brought: employees claim against the farm’s compulsory employers’ liability insurance, while self-employed farmers and contractors may have a claim against a landowner, a contractor or an equipment manufacturer. The time limit is normally three years from the accident or from the date you first knew your illness was linked to your work, so it is worth checking early.
The North West is livestock country. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs records that the region, which covers Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside, farmed 893,000 hectares in 2024, that grazing livestock farms made up 55 per cent of its holdings, and that its 271,000 dairy cows were 26 per cent of the entire English dairy herd. Just under 32,000 people worked on the region’s farms that year. Farms of this kind were built and extended heavily in the decades after the Second World War, when asbestos cement was the cheap, durable material of choice for cattle shed and milking parlour roofs, wall cladding, gutters and downpipes. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says that most farms will have some asbestos-containing materials and that anyone managing a building built or refurbished before 2000 should assume asbestos is present. Those same buildings, now fifty or sixty years old, are the fragile roofs that HSE links to roughly half of all deaths and serious injuries from falls in agriculture.
Where did asbestos cement roof farm exposure happen in Cumbria, Lancashire and Cheshire?
Asbestos exposure on North West farms came mainly from asbestos cement, a material that HSE says can contain over a third asbestos by weight. It was moulded into the large profiled sheets used for cattle shed, pig unit, poultry house and milking parlour roofs, into flat cladding for walls, and into gutters, downpipes, flues and water tanks. Sound, undisturbed asbestos cement releases few fibres. The danger came when it was cut, drilled, broken, sawn, cleaned with a pressure washer, swept up after storm damage, or stripped and dumped by farm staff and contractors without protection. Older farm workshops, grain stores and dryers, boiler houses and machinery also used asbestos in gaskets, brake and clutch linings, insulation and rope seals.
- Fitting, repairing and replacing corrugated asbestos cement roofs and cladding on barns, cubicle sheds and milking parlours, often by hand-sawing and drilling the sheets
- Cleaning moss and debris from cement roofs and valley gutters, and pressure-washing roofs during disease control
- Demolishing or clearing old farm buildings and burning or burying broken sheets on the land
- Maintaining tractors, balers and stationary engines with asbestos brake, clutch and gasket materials in the farm workshop
- Working near sprayed or lagged insulation in older grain dryers, boiler houses and creameries
- Agricultural building contractors, roofers and fencing gangs who moved between farms across the Lake District, the Fylde, the Ribble Valley, the Cheshire Plain and the Pennine fringe
Can I make an asbestos farm buildings claim decades after the exposure?
Yes. Asbestos disease claims are brought years or decades after exposure because that is how the diseases behave. HSE’s Asbestos-related disease statistics for Great Britain, published in July 2026, record 2,146 mesothelioma deaths in 2024, a similar estimated number of asbestos-related lung cancer deaths, and 503 deaths mentioning asbestosis, with around 5,000 asbestos-related deaths a year in total. The same report shows the North West has one of the highest male asbestosis death rates of any English region, at 16.8 per million a year for 2022 to 2024. Farm-based exposure is often lighter and more intermittent than shipyard or factory exposure, but mesothelioma in particular can follow relatively modest contact with asbestos dust. Since 2012 the Control of Asbestos Regulations have placed a formal duty to manage asbestos on whoever is responsible for maintaining non-domestic premises, which includes farm buildings; HSE’s guidance on farm building work says farm owners and tenants must assess the presence and condition of any asbestos-containing materials, and that damaged material and sprayed coatings should only be handled by licensed contractors. Before 2012 the general duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 already required employers to protect workers from asbestos dust, and the courts accept that the risks were widely known from the 1960s onwards. WE Solicitors handles mesothelioma claims, asbestosis claims, pleural thickening claims and asbestos-related lung cancer claims for former farm workers and contractors.
Farm-related diseases and whether they can be claimed for
| Condition | What it is | Typically appears | Claimable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mesothelioma | Cancer of the lining of the lung or abdomen caused almost exclusively by asbestos | Decades after exposure; HSE describes a long latency, typically many years | Yes, including where exposure was intermittent |
| Asbestos-related lung cancer | Lung cancer where asbestos exposure was a cause, often alongside smoking | Decades after exposure | Yes, with evidence of sufficient exposure |
| Asbestosis | Scarring of the lung tissue from heavy or prolonged asbestos dust | Usually 20 years or more after regular exposure | Yes |
| Pleural thickening | Thickening of the lung lining that restricts breathing | Years after exposure | Yes, where it causes disability |
| Noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus | Permanent damage to the inner ear from years of loud noise | Gradually; HSE says often without the sufferer being aware until it is too late | Yes, against employers who failed to control noise |
| Hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) | Nerve, blood vessel and joint damage from vibrating tools such as chainsaws, brush cutters and grinders | After months or years of regular use; tingling, numbness and white fingers in the cold | Yes |
| Farmer’s lung | An allergic lung reaction to spores from mouldy hay, straw or grain | Fever, cough and breathlessness after handling mouldy crops; can become chronic | Yes, where an employer failed to control dust or provide respiratory protection |
| Occupational asthma and chronic bronchitis | Airway disease caused or worsened by grain dust, animal feed, bedding and animal waste | Symptoms that improve on days away from the farm | Yes |
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Farm worker hearing loss claim: tractors, grain dryers, chainsaws and workshops
A farm worker hearing loss claim is possible where an employer allowed years of exposure above the legal action values without proper protection. HSE’s agriculture noise guidance names tractors, chainsaws, grain dryers and guns as the main sources, and notes that pigs at feeding time can create levels of 100 dB or more. The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 set a lower exposure action value of 80 dB(A) averaged over a day or week, an upper action value of 85 dB(A), and a limit of 87 dB(A) that must not be exceeded once hearing protection is taken into account. Above the upper value, hearing protection must be provided and worn and noise must be reduced at source; HSE says hearing protection should be the last resort. Older cab-less tractors, workshop grinders and compressors, intensive pig and poultry units and drying floors routinely exceeded those levels. HSE estimates that around 15,000 workers a year in Great Britain have hearing problems caused or made worse by work. If you notice the television creeping up, struggle in the pub or the mart, or hear a constant ringing, a free hearing test and a chat with our team is a sensible first step. Our hearing loss claims page and our noise-induced hearing loss FAQs explain how these claims work.
Hand-arm vibration syndrome, farmer’s lung and occupational asthma on North West farms
Farming brings together three further occupational diseases that are often overlooked. Hand-arm vibration syndrome, sometimes called vibration white finger, follows repeated use of chainsaws, brush cutters, hedge trimmers, angle grinders and impact tools; HSE lists tingling or numbness in the fingers and fingers turning white in cold or damp conditions as the warning signs, and the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 set an exposure action value of 2.5 m/s² A(8) and a limit of 5.0 m/s² A(8). Farmer’s lung is an allergic reaction to spores from mouldy hay, straw and grain, common on wet upland farms in Cumbria and the Pennines where crops are stored damp; HSE describes fever, cough, increasing shortness of breath, muscle and joint pains and weight loss. Occupational asthma and chronic bronchitis are linked by HSE to dust from harvesting and handling grain, mixing feed, feeding animals, handling mouldy bedding and dealing with animal and poultry waste, and HSE notes that occupational asthma in agriculture runs at about double the national average. Employers must control these dusts under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 and provide health surveillance and proper respirators, not nuisance masks. See our hand-arm vibration syndrome claims page for the HAVS process.
Farming injury claims and agricultural accident claims: vehicles, livestock, machinery and fragile roofs
Agriculture is the most dangerous major industry in Britain. HSE’s provisional figures for 2025/26, published in July 2026, record 22 workers killed in agriculture, forestry and fishing, and HSE says the sector’s rate of fatal injury over the latest five years has been around 21 times the average across all industries, far higher even than construction. HSE’s agriculture reporting consistently names moving and overturning vehicles, animals, falls from height, falling objects and machinery as the main causes, with cattle the most common single cause in its most recent full agriculture report, and members of the public, including children, are killed on farms every year. Falls from height are consistently among the main causes of death on farms, and HSE’s own case studies record farmers and workers falling three or four metres through cement sheet roofs while clearing moss, replacing sheets, cleaning valley gutters and pressure-washing a pig unit; HSE states plainly that most types of fibre cement roof will be fragile and that no one must ever work on, or walk over, a fragile roof unless platforms, covers or similar are provided. Serious non-fatal injuries follow the same pattern: crush injuries from cattle and bulls, amputations from power take-off shafts and balers, quad bike and telehandler overturns on fell and moss land, and spinal injuries from falls. Our serious injury team takes on these cases.
How farm accidents happen in the North West and who may be responsible
| Type of accident | What HSE reports | Who may be responsible |
|---|---|---|
| Moving or overturning vehicles (tractors, quads, telehandlers) | Consistently one of the largest single causes of death on farms | Employer, vehicle owner, contractor, or manufacturer if a defect caused the overturn |
| Falls from height, including through fragile asbestos cement roofs | Roughly half of fall deaths and serious injuries in agriculture involve fragile roofs | Employer, farm occupier who set the task, roofing contractor, or landowner who failed to warn |
| Livestock (cattle, bulls, cows with calves) | One of the five main causes of death; the most common single cause in HSE’s most recent full agriculture report | Employer or farm occupier responsible for handling systems and the animal |
| Machinery (PTO shafts, balers, mixers, augers) | One of the five main causes of fatal injury; entanglement and crushing | Employer, hirer or manufacturer of unguarded or defective machinery |
| Falling objects (bales, gates, loads, collapsing structures) | One of the five main causes of death on farms | Employer or occupier who organised the stacking, loading or building work |
| Children and members of the public | Members of the public, including children, are killed on farms every year | Farm occupier under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 |
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Who pays agricultural injury compensation in Lancashire, Cumbria and Cheshire?
Who pays depends on your working status, and this is where farming differs from most industries. If you were employed by a farm, an agricultural contractor or an estate, even casually or seasonally, your claim is made against your employer’s employers’ liability insurance. The Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 requires every employer carrying on business in Great Britain to insure against liability for bodily injury or disease sustained by employees in the course of their work, so the claim is paid by an insurer, not out of the farm’s pocket, and it does not matter that the farmer was a neighbour or a friend. If the farm has since been sold, the partnership dissolved or the farmer has died, the historic policy can still be traced through the Employers’ Liability Tracing Office. If you were self-employed, a partner in the family farm or a sole trader, you cannot sue yourself, but that does not close the door. Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 places a duty on every employer and self-employed person to conduct their undertaking so that people not in their employment are not exposed to risks to their health or safety; a landowner or occupier owes visitors a common duty of care under the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957; and section 2 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 makes the producer of a defective product liable for the damage it causes, without proof of negligence.
- Employed farm worker, herdsman, tractor driver or seasonal labourer: claim against the employer’s compulsory insurance
- Contractor’s employee (silage gang, roofing, fencing, building, shearing): claim against the contractor’s insurer, and sometimes the farm occupier as well
- Self-employed farmer injured on someone else’s land: claim against the occupier or landowner
- Self-employed farmer injured by a defective tractor, baler, quad, ladder or roof sheet: claim against the manufacturer or supplier under the Consumer Protection Act 1987
- Self-employed farmer injured by a contractor’s negligence on their own farm: claim against the contractor’s public liability insurer
- Family of a farm worker who died from an asbestos disease or a farm accident: a claim on behalf of the estate and dependants
“Farming families in the North West are stoic to a fault. We regularly meet men in their seventies who have never mentioned the ringing in their ears or the numb fingers, and widows who assumed a barn roof job in 1975 could not possibly matter now. It does matter, and the insurance is there for exactly this reason.”
How long do I have to bring a farm accident or industrial disease claim?
The time limit, which lawyers call limitation, is set by sections 11 and 14 of the Limitation Act 1980. For an accident it is three years from the date of the injury. For a disease it is three years from your date of knowledge, meaning the date you first knew that your injury was significant and that it was attributable to your work, which for an asbestos disease, hearing loss or HAVS is normally the date a doctor connected the condition to your job, not the date of the exposure. Where someone has died, their family has three years from the date of death or from the date the personal representative learned the cause, whichever is later. Courts have a discretion to extend these periods but it is never safe to rely on it. Because farm exposure often stretched over a whole working life, gathering the evidence early makes a real difference: which farms, which years, which buildings, which machines, and who else worked alongside you. Our claims process page explains what happens from the first call onwards.
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim for asbestos exposure from asbestos cement roofs on a farm?
Yes. If you cut, drilled, repaired, cleaned or cleared asbestos cement roofing or cladding as an employee, or were exposed to the dust while others did, and you have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, pleural thickening or asbestos-related lung cancer, a claim can be made against the employer’s insurer. HSE confirms asbestos cement can contain over a third asbestos and that most farms still have some asbestos-containing materials.
I was self-employed on my own farm. Can I still make a farming injury claim?
Often, yes, although not against yourself. Claims by self-employed farmers are usually brought against a contractor whose negligence caused the injury, a landowner or occupier of land you were working on, or the manufacturer or supplier of a defective machine or product under the Consumer Protection Act 1987. We will tell you honestly if no route exists.
How do I prove my hearing loss came from tractors and farm machinery rather than age?
A specialist audiogram shows a characteristic pattern for noise damage, and a medical expert separates that from age-related loss. Your own account of the tractors, dryers, workshops and livestock units you worked in, together with HSE’s published noise levels for agriculture, is usually enough to establish exposure above the 85 dB(A) upper action value.
The farm has changed hands and the old farmer has died. Is there anyone left to claim against?
Usually there is. The claim is against the insurance policy that was in force when you were exposed, and the Employers’ Liability Tracing Office can trace historic policies. A dissolved farming company or partnership can often be restored for the purpose of the claim. For mesothelioma where no insurer can be found, the Diffuse Mesothelioma Payment Scheme may apply.
I fell through a fragile roof while doing contract work on a farm. Who is responsible?
Potentially both your own employer and the farm occupier. HSE says most fibre cement roofs are fragile and that no one should ever walk on one without platforms, covers, nets or similar protection. The occupier who set the job and the contractor who sent you up without equipment may each share liability, and the claim is met by their insurers.
What is the time limit for an agricultural accident claim in the North West?
Three years from the date of the accident under section 11 of the Limitation Act 1980. For a disease such as hearing loss, HAVS or an asbestos condition it is three years from the date you knew the condition was significant and linked to your work, usually the date of diagnosis. For a child, the three years does not start until their eighteenth birthday.
My father died after a farm accident or an asbestos disease. Can the family claim?
Yes. The family and estate have three years from the date of death, or from the date the personal representative learned the cause, to bring a claim for the loss of the person, funeral costs and financial dependency. These claims are handled sensitively and on the same no win, no fee basis.
Does WE Solicitors take on farm accident and farm disease claims from Cumbria, Lancashire and Cheshire?
Yes. We are based in Oldham on the Pennine edge of Greater Manchester and act for clients across the whole of the North West, from the Cumbrian fells and the Fylde to the Cheshire Plain, handling everything by phone, video call, post and email so you never need to travel. Every claim runs on a no win, no fee basis with a free initial assessment.
Speak to a specialist farm accident solicitor for Cumbria, Lancashire and Cheshire
WE Solicitors LLP has acted for people with industrial disease and serious injury claims across the North West since 2001, and we understand the particular loyalty, independence and unwillingness to make a fuss that runs through farming communities. Whether you worked under an asbestos cement roof in a Cumbrian cattle shed, drove a cab-less tractor across Lancashire mossland, ran a chainsaw on a Cheshire estate or lost a family member in a farm accident, we will tell you plainly whether you have a claim and what it involves. You can read about the kinds of results we have achieved on our cases settled page, see how compensation is assessed on how much is your claim worth, and find our other North West guides on regional legal news.
WE Solicitors LLP is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA number 445359. We are members of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and the Professional Negligence Lawyers Association.
Sources
The figures and legal references on this page come from the following authorities, checked at the time of publication.
- HSE, Asbestos-related disease statistics, Great Britain 2026 (July 2026): mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis deaths and regional asbestosis rates. https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/assets/docs/asbestos-related-disease.pdf
- HSE, Work-related fatal injuries in Great Britain 2026: provisional 2025/26 figures by industry, including 22 deaths in agriculture, forestry and fishing and the sector’s rate around 21 times the all-industry average (July 2026). https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/assets/docs/fatalinjuries.pdf
- HSE, Fatal injuries in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Great Britain: main causes of death, including injury by cattle. https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/resources/fatal.htm
- HSE, Falls through fragile roofs in agriculture: case examples and the proportion of fall deaths involving fragile roofs. https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/experience/falls-fragile.htm
- HSE, Falls from height in agriculture: guidance on fragile fibre cement roofs. https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/topics/falls.htm
- HSE, Building work on farms: asbestos-containing materials, farm owners’ and tenants’ duties. https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/topics/building.htm
- HSE, Locations of asbestos and taking the right action: asbestos cement roofs, cladding, gutters and downpipes. https://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/location-materials.htm
- HSE, Duty to manage asbestos: presume asbestos in buildings built or refurbished before 2000. https://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/duty/is-asbestos-present.htm
- The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, regulation 4: duty to manage asbestos in non-domestic premises. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/632/regulation/4
- HSE, Noise in agriculture: sources, decibel levels and action values. https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/topics/noise.htm
- The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, regulation 4: exposure action and limit values. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/1643/regulation/4
- HSE, Work-related hearing loss statistics in Great Britain (2022/23 to 2024/25): around 15,000 workers a year. https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/deafness/index.htm
- HSE, Vibration in agriculture: hand-arm and whole-body vibration sources and symptoms. https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/topics/vibration.htm
- HSE, Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005: hand-arm vibration exposure action and limit values. https://www.hse.gov.uk/vibration/hav/regulations.htm
- HSE, Grain dust in agriculture: occupational asthma, farmer’s lung and COSHH duties. https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/topics/grain-dust.htm
- HSE, Lung disease: higher-risk jobs and industries, agriculture section. https://www.hse.gov.uk/lung-disease/a-z.htm
- Defra, Agricultural facts: North West region (2024 data, published October 2025): farmed area, farm types, livestock and labour. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/agricultural-facts-england-regional-profiles/agricultural-facts-north-west-region
- Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, section 1: duty to insure against injury and disease to employees. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1969/57/section/1
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 3: duties of employers and the self-employed to persons other than employees. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/37/section/3
- Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, section 2: the common duty of care owed to visitors. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1957/31/section/2
- Consumer Protection Act 1987, section 2: liability of producers for defective products. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1987/43/section/2
- Limitation Act 1980, section 11: three-year time limit for personal injury claims. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/section/11
- Limitation Act 1980, section 14: definition of date of knowledge. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58/section/14
