A manufacturer or supplier of vehicles and brake parts containing asbestos owes a duty of care to motor mechanics who service those vehicles to warn of the dangers of asbestos exposure and the need for protective measures. The foreseeability of risk to mechanics from asbestos brake dust was established from the early 1970s based on the state of knowledge available to the defendant. In medical causation disputes between asbestosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, probabilistic reasoning comparing the relative rarity of IPF against the probability of asbestosis given known exposure is a permissible diagnostic methodology. Following the 2007 amendments to O 24A of the Rules of the Supreme Court 1971 (WA), rejection of a Calderbank offer does not give rise to any prima facie entitlement to indemnity costs.
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