Where was the asbestos?

[CMOT_Dibbler]

My father was Kingfisher (see post above). He passed away last Friday (October 2, 2015) aged 92. He worked in the Melting shop for his entire working life. The doctors have told me that asbestos was the cause of my father's lung cancer, blood disorder (which caused both a stroke when he was 80 and then a chronic lack of red blood cells) and ultimately his death. He successfully claimed Industrial Injury Benefit with the help of SARAG.

 

In addition to protective clothing my father told me that asbestos was used as an insulating material on the shop floor, where asbestos sheets were cut to size with knives on the shop floor without any PPE.

 

I visited the hospital with him to see his consultants on several occasions regarding his illnesses. Each time we spotted someone he knew from Firth Brown's waiting for similar appointments.

Edited October 7, 2015 by CMOT_Dibbler

[timex]

Sorry to hear about your dad, Asbestos is a time bomb for all who worked in the Steel industries as well as the building trades in the fifty's,sixty's and seventies.

The scandal is that the media seem to ignore the problem .

[redted50]

I have been diagnosed as having something called plueral thickening,which,in effect is a tiny amount of asbestos in one of my lungs.I worked in the refractory insulation industry,which involved knocking down and rebuilding furnaces.I also worked in the asbestos removal industry as well.I doubt anyone would come in contact with blue asbestos in the steel works.It was usually white,which was used in between the brickwork and the steel csing plus they used it in a kind of rope form around the furnace door.Not as dangerous as the blue stuff but still deadly if exposed to it long enough,I bet a lot of people would be surprised to know that railway carriages were all lined with 'blue',and,unbelieveably,i had some colleagues who worked on the Q,E,2. clearing all the cabins of blue asbestos.The stuff is pretty harmless if left undisturbed,but when people start drilling holes in walls,not knowing what's behind is when the trouble starts....Sorry for the long post.

[Hesther]

My father was Kingfisher (see post above). He passed away last Friday (October 2, 2015) aged 92. He worked in the Melting shop for his entire working life. The doctors have told me that asbestos was the cause of my father's lung cancer, blood disorder (which caused both a stroke when he was 80 and then a chronic lack of red blood cells) and ultimately his death. He successfully claimed Industrial Injury Benefit with the help of SARAG.

 

In addition to protective clothing my father told me that asbestos was used as an insulating material on the shop floor, where asbestos sheets were cut to size with knives on the shop floor without any PPE.

 

I visited the hospital with him to see his consultants on several occasions regarding his illnesses. Each time we spotted someone he knew from Firth Brown's waiting for similar appointments.

 

Sorry for your loss. God bless you and your family. x

[JackK0]

As mentioned above a lot of the furnace men in the steelworks wore asbestos suits , the flooring and pipe work were lined with asbestos sometimes too

[ptrA]

It was everywhere. form house building to factories. I worked with it from 1954 to late 70's. Cutting & drilling electrical panels. All of a sudden it stopped. I watched insulators putting the stuff on girder work with bare hands. We didn't know any better. I was apprenticed to one of the first guys (PH) to die of asbestosis in Sheffield. As always the USA knew about this, but our side would not listen. The alternative cost too much. When I went abroad to work, I learned that a lot of stuff (sorboil etc) had been banned by USA for years. I came back to find some stuff was still in use. It didn't matter to them upstairs, after all they didn't use it. Once forced on them, things changed to as now. How time has changed. The workman's lifespan was 45 years, it's now close to 83.

[Janner]

I was in the Engineering Branch of the Royal Navy from 1949-72. The job entailed intense contact with asbestos, so far I have not been affected. Should I develop asbestosis I would not get any compensation. The RN has Crown immunity for anyone affected if they left the RN before 1987.

[astraflash]

the brake drums on the overhead cranes had asbestos in the brakes linings these were often manufactured on site by the apprentice fitters they were hacksawed to length drilled and counter sunk on a pillar drill and riveted with copper the bench and drill would have to be swept daily.

[stpetre]

I have been diagnosed as having something called plueral thickening,which,in effect is a tiny amount of asbestos in one of my lungs.I worked in the refractory insulation industry,which involved knocking down and rebuilding furnaces.I also worked in the asbestos removal industry as well.I doubt anyone would come in contact with blue asbestos in the steel works.It was usually white,which was used in between the brickwork and the steel csing plus they used it in a kind of rope form around the furnace door.Not as dangerous as the blue stuff but still deadly if exposed to it long enough,I bet a lot of people would be surprised to know that railway carriages were all lined with 'blue',and,unbelieveably,i had some colleagues who worked on the Q,E,2. clearing all the cabins of blue asbestos.The stuff is pretty harmless if left undisturbed,but when people start drilling holes in walls,not knowing what's behind is when the trouble starts....Sorry for the long post.

 

Yes redted, while acknowledging those that had contact with the 'deadly dust', there were others that that worked for insulation ( ie; pipe lagging etc) companies. The two main ones in Sheffield being Darlington Insulation and Simpkin-Machin, any one on here aware of those two, or former employees of ?

[CMOT_Dibbler]

7 months after his death the Coroner's Inquest on my father (Kingfisher) has taken place following a postmortem. The conclusion is that the underlying cause of death was asbestosis arising from his occupation with Firth Brown Ltd. I have had discussions with solicitors regarding the matter but they say that, despite the Coroner's conclusion, the chances of a successful claim against the firm's insurers are severely harmed by :

 

1) The lack of corroborative evidence and contemporary witnesses

2) His delay (despite SARAG making a successful claim on his behalf for Industrial Injuries Benefit) in registering a civil claim against the company.

 

My purpose in writing here is to encourage those affected by asbestos to register their claim (solicitor's will do it on a no win no fee basis -SARAG have a list available) within 3 years of diagnosis of asbestos contamination.

 

Should anyone who worked at the melting shop at Firth Brown's require corroborative evidence please contact me - I am happy to share the post mortem report and Inquest conclusions with them.