32Assumptions as to exposure as a worker

32 Assumptions as to exposure as a worker

(1)  If a person who has an asbestos-related disease was employed as a worker for a period (whether or not the period was continuous) of at least 12 months during a relevant employment period in which the person's employment is connected with this State –

(a) at a workplace at which, at the time of that employment, products containing asbestos were manufactured; and

(b) in an occupation in which, it may reasonably be assumed, a person was likely to have been exposed to asbestos in the ordinary course of his or her duties as a worker in the occupation –

the contraction of the disease by the person is to be taken to be reasonably attributable to exposure to asbestos in the course of that employment.

(2)  Subsection (1) applies in relation to a person whether or not the person was, or may have been, exposed to asbestos otherwise than in the course of his or her employment as a worker.

(3)  For the purposes of subsection (1) , a reference to a workplace at which products containing asbestos were manufactured includes, but is not limited to including, premises, owned or occupied by the manufacturer of the products, at which such products were manufactured, packed, stored or assembled.

(4)  For the purposes of subsection (1) , products containing asbestos are manufactured by a manufacturer ("the principal manufacturer") whether the products consist of –

(a) an object, containing asbestos, that is manufactured by the principal manufacturer; or

(b) an object, containing asbestos, that has been manufactured by another manufacturer but is made into, or forms part of, another object manufactured by the principal manufacturer.

(5)  Nothing in this section is to be taken to limit the circumstances in which the contraction of an asbestos-related disease may be taken to be reasonably attributable to exposure to asbestos in the course of employment.