Michael Brown believes he developed mesothelioma after breathing in asbestos while working in and around Plymouth in the early 1960s.
The devastating disease can take decades to develop but is usually fatal within 18 months to two years of diagnosis.
The 68-year-old grandfather told his story before tomorrow’s Action Mesothelioma Day, which is being marked by special events in Plymouth.
The city is one of the UK’s worst hotspots for the disease, mainly due to the heavy use of asbestos at Devonport dockyard and on ships. The condition also affects many former labourers.
Mr Brown is looking to take legal action against his former employer Scaffolding (GB) Ltd, which has ceased trading.
He is appealing to former workmates for help with his battle for justice.
When a firm no longer exists, compensation is sought through their insurers.
Mr Brown said: “When I was told I had mesothelioma, my family and I were completely devastated.
“I worked in several different places for different companies and can’t say exactly where I picked it up, but I was definitely exposed to it while working for Scaffolding (GB) Ltd.
“I was always working next to people removing asbestos and I would end up covered in dust but I had no idea how serious this would end up being.
“I have had six rounds of chemotherapy treatment, which I am recovering from.
“I want to enjoy some quality time with my family, but I’m very aware this will now be cut short.”
He said Action Mesothelioma Day is a chance to raise awareness about the “terrible illness” and the dangers of asbestos.
“I hope that what happened to me serves as a warning to other workers and, in particular employers,” he said.
Mr Brown is the main carer for two disabled relatives and has six children and nine grandchildren.
He described coming into contact with deadly asbestos dust at building sites in Plymouth and the South West.
“I was sent to work in the Penzance Gas Works to erect scaffolding where I worked next to men who were removing asbestos lagging from extensive pipework using hand chisels,” he said.
“The air in the gas works was also filled with huge white asbestos dust clouds that I couldn’t avoid inhaling.”
Mr Brown, who has moved to Bristol, said he completed a contract at the Ramington typewriter factory in Plymouth and worked next to roofers who were cutting asbestos corrugated sheets using a grinder.
He also worked at the Plymouth Gas Works with another company.
“I can recall being constantly in close proximity to laggers who were mixing the asbestos powder in large drums and then applying the asbestos paste onto the pipework,” he said.
Helen Grady, from Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, is representing Mr Brown in his legal battle.
MESOTHELIOMA: the facts.
Mesothelioma is an asbestos-related cancer of the lungs or abdomen.
Although exposure to asbestos has been strictly regulated since the late 1970s, mesothelioma is still arising in people who were exposed beforehand.
Health and Safety Executive figures show 373 Plymouth men died from mesothelioma between 1981 and 2005.
Victims may be entitled to compensation but the battle for justice can be complex.
There are different rules for civilians and servicemen.
Claimants may also face difficulties proving a company’s liability, or gaining compensation where a company is no longer operating.
Via: thisisplymouth.co.uk U.K. Edition
We have all seen them and worn them and by far the best gloves for all scaffolding tasks. i got at least 3 to 4 days work out of the gloves before holes started appearing.
Overall very comfortable to wear and retained grip even when wet.
Price: £1.10 each
ScaffMag Rating: 
The Swedish firm Blaklader have created a comfortable pair of gloves that provide a decent amount of protection. The gloves are made from synthetic leather and are a slip on design.
But like the Snickers gloves they fell short when used for erecting and dismantling scaffolding.
Price: £13.68 each
ScaffMag Rating: 
Another well known brand giant Dewalt provides a well rounded protective glove but comes with a huge price tag. The glove provides a gel palm with Toughgrip Reinforced palm and fingers and comes with Velcro straps around the wrists.
When i first wore the gloves they felt like what i call “riggers gloves” but performed well during everyday scaffolding tasks and lasted well over the review period. Saying this I can not ignore the fact that these gloves cost a small fortune and why I can only give them a 4 star rating.
Price: £25.38 each
ScaffMag Rating: 
The air ambulance landed at Sandown Park racecourse on Thursday, June 14, after a call that Network Rail workers had fallen about 15ft from scaffolding on a bridge they were working on.
The men, aged 49 and 52, were taken to St George’s Hospital in Tooting.
One had minor head injuries and the other sustained serious chest injuries, according to a spokesman for Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance.
Apex Scaffolding Services (Sussex) was fined £3,000 for safety failings after Joe Murphy, 31, fell to his death in Washington Avenue, St Leonards on Sea.
Director Michael Walsh, from Hastings, and Leslie Hustwayte, a supervisor from St Leonards, were fined £1,500 and £2,000 respectively.
Hastings magistrates ordered them to pay £2,500 costs each, and Apex £5,000.
The court heard the company, based at Court House, Hooe, Battle, had been in trouble over unsafe working practices even before Mr Murphy’s death in August 2009.
In December 2008 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued a Prohibition Notice against the firm and some employees relating to safety breaches on scaffolding.
‘Missing’ hand rails
Such a notice requires work to stop until the issue has been resolved.
But the executive said poor attitude to safety in the organisation had continued.
HSE representatives told Hastings magistrates that Mr Murphy had been constructing a scaffold “over-roof” at the property in St Leonards when he had fallen.
The executive was not able to establish how far he had fallen, but it said an investigation had identified “a number of defects” with the scaffolding at the site, including missing hand rails and incomplete scaffold platforms.
The charges against Apex and Walsh related to a failure to ensure the safety of workers at height and inadequate supervision.
Hustwayte was also prosecuted for failing to use adequate safety equipment.
The company and individuals had pleaded guilty to all charges at a previous hearing.
HSE inspector Melvyn Stancliffe said after the hearing: “HSE and the scaffolding industry have worked together to produce easy-to-follow guidance to help contractors ensure their scaffolding is safe.
“So there is no excuse for compromising safety, as was clearly the case here.”
Via:
Without a doubt, what happens in the global shipping market is of crucial importance and might well have a significant knock-on effect on the scaffolding industry.
We have never seen such volatility in ‘dry van’ shipping rates as we have witnessed over the last few years; with rate swings of over 100% from one quarter to another not uncommon. And the first knock-on effect is, of course, in the overall profitability and, therefore, viability, of the shipping lines themselves. So, ultimately, this is something that is of importance to the scaffolding industry!
Container freight rates on some of the main Asia-Europe routes increased again last month for the third time in as many months piling pressure on shippers after the previous large rate hikes. Furthermore, it would appear that the shipping lines were able to enforce the vast majority of the requested price increases; although many would suggest that they might not be sustainable in the longer term given the expected delivery of a significant number of large new ships from the shipyards.
Furthermore, some analysts expect pricing to ease as weakening load factors impact the sustainability of current rate levels. In addition, there is some significant disparity when looking at overall global route trends; for instance, the divergence in freight rate trends between the ascendant Asia-to-Europe trade and moribund transpacific routes.
Tighter capacity on the former has enabled lines to press ahead with aggressive rate restoration programmes, while weaker load factors on the transpacific have held such attempts in check. This might well mean that the rally in Asia-to-Europe rate increases may be losing steam. In fact, carriers are already offering pricing reductions on cargo bookings for later in the month, indicating that the market may now have peaked.
Cumulatively, the container lines lost over $6 billion in 2011; $2 billion in the last quarter alone. And, despite the many recent rate increases, many of the lines are expecting to lose money again this year. In fact, Maersk Line, the world’s largest shipping line, has just announced that it lost almost $600 million in Q1 2012; more than it lost in the whole of last year. And that was on revenue up 7% to $6.3 billion!
This is all very sobering and, although we wouldn’t for a minute doubt the long term viability of Maersk itself – who has stated that it expects an overall “negative up to neutral result in 2012” – the omens are potentially more ominous for some of the smaller players.
All of this means that the importers and exporters of scaffolding products are increasingly under pressure to ensure that their logistics chains are working at optimum safe and efficient levels. It’s imperative that in order to avoid ‘contagion’, the scaffolding industry does its upmost to ensure that its logistics chains are being well managed and that it utilises a high quality freight forwarding partner; one that can advise them knowledgably and help them successfully and profitably navigate through the instability of the global shipping industry.