Injury claim news
20/09/2011

Family to quiz colleagues after asbestos cancer kills father

The family of a Coventry rail worker who blame asbestos for his death at 83 are appealing to his former colleagues for help.

They believe exposure to the insulating material in the 1950s may have caused the asbestos cancer, mesothelioma, which claimed his life in 2009.

Now they are questioning people who worked alongside him in those years to establish whether that exposure was the result of negligence on the part of British Rail (BR).

"Even in the 1950s and 1960s employers knew the risks associated with asbestos," said the family's asbestos solicitor.

"We are seeking additional information from anyone who worked for British Rail at either Coventry or Nuneaton Old Goods Yards between 1947 and 1960."

The man, who worked as a BR carpenter for 40 years, did not develop symptoms of asbestosis until after his retirement. His cancer was diagnosed from an X-ray taken after a fall in his home in August 2009.

He died two months later, and in April the following year a coroner's report found the cause of death to be industrial disease.

"Dad worked all of his life for British Rail and was a very active person," his daughter said. "He only started to slow down a couple of years before his death.

"When Dad was diagnosed with asbestos related mesothelioma it came as a huge shock … he has left behind a family who miss him terribly."