Keogh v CPB Contractors Pty Ltd (No 2)

The case of Keogh v CPB Contractors Pty Ltd (No 2) involved the plaintiff, a former coal miner, who sued several mining companies for various dust-related diseases. The plaintiff alleged that his conditions, including coal workers' pneumoconiosis, silicosis, mixed dust pneumoconiosis, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and psychiatric injury, were caused by his exposure to mine dust at various coal mines, including Poitrel, Moorvale, Boggabri, and Blackwater. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, where the plaintiff sought damages for the injuries he claimed were sustained due to the defendants' negligence in failing to protect him from excessive dust exposure.

The court was required to determine several legal issues, including whether the plaintiff's lung diseases were caused by his exposure to mine dust or his smoking habit, the nature of the diseases (whether divisible or indivisible), the application of the statutory damages regime for coal miners in New South Wales, and the appropriate apportionment of damages among the defendants. The court also had to consider whether the claim was statute-barred and whether provisional damages could be awarded.

The court found that the plaintiff's dust-related conditions were caused by his exposure to mine dust at the various coal mines, not by his smoking habit. The court ruled that coal workers' pneumoconiosis was indivisible, while psychiatric injury was divisible. The court applied the New South Wales statutory damages regime, finding that the cap on damages was based on net earnings and excluded superannuation. The court also held that the claim was not statute-barred and that provisional damages could be awarded. The court apportioned damages among the defendants based on their respective contributions to the plaintiff's exposure to mine dust.

The court ordered that the defendants pay the plaintiff damages for his dust-related conditions, including coal workers' pneumoconiosis, silicosis, mixed dust pneumoconiosis, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and psychiatric injury. The court also ordered the defendants to pay costs and granted leave to the defendants to file cross claims. The court made several orders regarding the apportionment of damages among the defendants, the application of the statutory damages regime, and the award of provisional damages.