I was instructed by Mr D who was diagnosed with asbestos related lung cancer.
Exposure to asbestos at work
Mr D had worked in heating and plumbing all his life. Between 1958 and 1962 he was employed as a heating fitters mate for Arthur Scull & Company Limited. From 1962 to 1973 approximately he worked for Barrett & Wright firstly as a heating fitters mate and then from 1973 to 1979 as a heating fitter.
He did a lot of work in London for Arthur Scull and had a lot of exposure here. He chipped off the old asbestos lagging which was dry and crumbling and in poor condition. He used a hammer and a chisel. One of his jobs was to sweep up all the lagging that was left on the floor. Some days he spent up to three hours chipping off old asbestos lagging. On other days it could be as many as six hours depending on what job he was doing at the time. He had no proper personal protective equipment and he was never warned about the dangers of asbestos.
Chipping off old asbestos
When Mr D moved to Barrett & Wright he worked daily on pipe fitting, boiler and central heating installation and maintenance and domestic plumbing. He was exposed to asbestos on a daily basis.His job was to rip off the old asbestos lagging by hand using a hammer and chisel and to pull out all the old pipe work to fit new pipe work. As he chipped off the old asbestos lagging it all flaked off. Sometimes big lumps fell off and sometime little lumps fell off. It was his job to sweep up the lagging that was on the floor into a heap.
Close work with asbestos laggers
Mr D worked closely with laggers who were working within a few feet of him. The laggers mixed up new asbestos lagging and applied it onto the pipe work. Barrett & Wright did a lot of work for the Church and Mr D did a lot of work in schools and hospitals. He worked at the Whittington Hospital in Archway and also St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London.
Asbestos claim settled
Some years after retiring Mr D fell ill and was diagnosed with lung cancer. Following his diagnosis Mr D came to us to investigate his claim. His claim was settled within 11 months for £100,000.
