Irwin Mitchell has won a Supreme Court victory acting for the family of an asbestos-related cancer victim, who can now receive compensation despite the fact that the man was not an employee at the factory where he came into contact with the toxic substance.

The landmark ruling could protect settlements for future sufferers' families after the court decided today that the occupier of a premises ha responsibility for everyone on a work site, irrespective of whether they are directly employed.

The judgment also clarifies that regulations on asbestos apply to all factories using the substance, rather than just for those involved in the asbestos industry.

The case centred around waste lorry driver Percy McDonald who visited Battersea Power Station between 1954 and 1958. He died earlier this year from mesothelioma. McDonald's family argued that his work with asbestos was dangerous, even though his trips to the plant were occasional and brief.

Irwin Mitchell's Alida Coates, who heads up the firm's Midlands and South West workplace illness teams acted for the McDonald family, instructing Byrom Street Chambers' David Allan QC and Simon Kilvington. Coates has worked on asbestos disease claims since the 1990s, and was part of the team which won the first ever environmental asbestos exposure case in 1995.

Coates said:"At a time when the current government seem set on eroding the protection offered to people at work, it is refreshing to note that the judges in the Supreme Court take the protection of workers seriously."

Plexus Law, led by partner Damon Burt, represented defendant National Grid Electricity, instructing Ropewalk Chambers' Dominic Nolan QC and Philip Godfrey.