Power station worker died from asbestos-related cancer

9:58am Friday 12th September 2008

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A POWER station worker exposed to asbestos dust and fibres in the 1950s died from an asbestos-related cancer five decades later, an inquest in Gloucester heard.

David Woodall, of Hentley Tor, Wotton-under-Edge, died at home on January 2 at the age of 71.

The inquest heard that Mr Woodall had been apprenticed with the British Electricity Authority, later the Central Electricity Generating Board, at the age of 15 in 1951.

He worked at power stations in Manchester, Stockport and elsewhere in the North West of England.

In a statement, his widow Margaret Woodall said her husband had worked as an apprentice from 1951 to 1958 and that he worked on plant and machinery after asbestos lagging had been stripped.

He was often present when the asbestos was removed and the atmosphere was "heavily contaminated with dust and fibres".

He was not provided with a protective face mask and was not aware of any health dangers posed by asbestos, she stated.

After National Service in the RAF, Mr Woodall returned to the electricity industry in engineering and managerial positions, and may have been exposed to asbestos, Mrs Woodall said.

He had enjoyed good health until August 2007 when he began to suffer pains in the left side of his chest. He was diagnosed with the incurable mesothelioma in October 2007.

The inquest heard that analysis of Mr Woodall's lung tissue indicated significant exposure to asbestos.

Gloucestershire Coroner Alan Crickmore recorded a verdict of death from an industrial disease.