Widow's appeal over factory asbestos link
LAWYERS are investigating a suspected link between the death of a former railway clerk from lung disease, and asbestos in a Doncaster factory more than 50 years ago.
Brian Coleman died aged 70 in March last year after suffering lung disease mesothelioma. As a young man he had worked as a clerk in the accounts office of the former Doncaster Plant Works.
His widow Ruth, from Intake, fears his illness may have been a result of the two years he spent at the site in Hexthorpe.
She is appealing for other former workers at what was then a nationalised industry to come forward with evidence of the use of asbestos at the Hexthorpe site between 1953 and 1955.
A major employer in Doncaster, the plant employed thousands and produced locomotives and carriages for railways.
Mr Coleman, along with other members of staff from the accounts offices, regularly walked through the workshops, and other areas where asbestos was used, to give out pay packets and discuss issues.
Denis O'Gorman, an industrial disease specialist at Irwin Mitchell who is representing Mrs Coleman, said: "In the 1950s when Mr Coleman worked at the plant, steam locomotives were being serviced and repaired. The locomotives were dismantled and rebuilt and asbestos blankets, asbestos rope and asbestos cement removed and replaced on locomotive boilers and other parts of the locomotives.
"His employers had a duty to protect all the workers who could have been exposed to the deadly fibres."
Mrs Coleman said: "Brian was diagnosed with mesothelioma in April 2006 and died almost a year later. He had no idea the work he was doing at the plant could have such a devastating effect on his health later in life."
Anyone who can provide evidence regarding the conditions at the works in the 1950s should call Irwin Mitchell in confidence on 08701 500 100.
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