Health & Safety

A mate from the Vindi contacted me, this was a few years ago now he was telling me about trying to claim for asbestosis back home, he was told seamen were not in contact with asbestos, I sent him a letter to say that when we were cleaning and painting under the winches and helping engineers with rigging to get stuff out of the engines we were in contact with the worst type of asbestos and that was the lagging around the pipes. I also told him about our win on the asbestos front here in the building industry, he got his claim through, unfortunately he did not live long after , his wife thanked me for my help.
Des

I remember to put in a claim it was well advertised by Numast Des , also the date that applications for compensation would be closed which I can’t remember , but was many years ago. Building site workers and seafarers were very likely to catch as worked in and around asbestos most of their working lives. One of the few reasons we emigrated out here
Was because my brother in law died with it in his early 50s leaving my sister hard up. He was a builder by trade and probably caught it working up north here. However the insurance wouldnt fork out saying he must have caught it in the uk and had it when took out the insurance and would only return his subscriptions. Cheers JS
Thinking back it may of been about 1983. That claims re MN were null and void. JS

Working at the Uni there was a building due to come down.
Asbestos discovered in it.
When the guys came to remove it they looked like space men with so much equipment on, took two days and the Uni was closed while the removed it.

I remember when working as an apprentice in the early sixties, machining a man made bearing material called Formapex and Tufnell . I was was covered in green grey dust at the end of my shift ( no masks in those times) I didn’t think any more about it at the time . A number of years later I was working at GEC Marine and noticed a milling machine which was tented and guys wearing full PPE , I asked the manager what was going on and he advised , yes you’ve guessed it , they were machining Formapex . He said it is highly carcinogenic . Thinking on that, and my time at sea I wonder if my name may have been on some slow moving bullet . I don’t think the company which employed me would have knowingly put us at risk at the time . The shenanigans came later with insurance companies avoiding payouts.
Doug

I've always worried about asbestos, especially after loading it in Quebec. I used to go down the hatch with a mate, to check the guys loading it. It was like a snow storm down there, as they lifted the bags and chucked them on stacks. I must have breathed it in along with everyone else. But, I suppose I've been lucky, so far.

I can never not remember seeing the asbestos fire blanket in the galley , it was part of the decorations. JS

Johnny.
My brother in Law worked as a sprinkler fitter, changing lagged pipes was always covered in dust, he died at 60 of asbestosis, I asked the DR why it took so long to appear, it said it had been encapsulated and as long as it wasn't disturbed he could have lived longer, but he had been using a sledge hammer to break up a concrete path at home and that had fractured the capsule.
Des

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/a...n-compensation.

You can still get a claim for Asbestos related health issues.

It was 2017 that I had started to have breathing problems. I was living in France at the time.
I went for a CT Scan and was told I had Diffuse Pleural Thickening. Advised to make a claim to HMG and was sucessful.
Got 5 figure sum and an industrial injuries disability allowance
I have a CT Scan every 2 years and Spirometry test once a year. Last time I had one was in September I was told my lung function was well down for a man of 74, said I had the lungs of someone 90+

Here in Aus they have now banned Granite polishing as the dust is deadly, the same as asbestos, stone masons around the country coughing their lungs up, they never wore masks either. The modern housewife will have to make to with wooden counter tops.
des

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Des Taff Jenkins

Johnny.
My brother in Law worked as a sprinkler fitter, changing lagged pipes was always covered in dust, he died at 60 of asbestosis, I asked the DR why it took so long to appear, it said it had been encapsulated and as long as it wasn't disturbed he could have lived longer, but he had been using a sledge hammer to break up a concrete path at home and that had fractured the capsule.
Des

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A friend of mine died before he was 40 with asbestosis, he was a service engineer for Weirs pumps, he reckoned it was due to knocking off insulation to get at boiler feed pumps.