Dursley engineer died after asbestos exposure (From Gazette Series)

Dursley engineer died after asbestos exposure

9:00am Saturday 10th January 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

AN ENGINEER exposed to a 'snowstorm of asbestos dust' as a power station worker during the 1960s died of an asbestos-related cancer, an inquest heard.

Gloucestershire Coroner Alan Crickmore ruled that Peter Blitz, 73, of Woodmancote, Dursley, died of the industrial disease malignant mesothelioma.

In a statement before his death, Mr Blitz said he had been exposed to asbestos dust and fibres during his career as an engineer with the Central Electricity Authority that began in 1956.

The inquest, held in Gloucester last week, heard Mr Blitz had been close to repairs of boiler lagging that resulted in asbestos being handled and being freely exposed to the resulting dust and fibres at power stations in Poole and Rugeley in the Midlands.

At the Meaford B power station near Stone, Staffordshire, Mr Blitz said he had walked through a 'snowstorm of asbestos dust' during the course of his work.

He moved to Oldbury power station in 1969 when stricter regulations for handling asbestos were being introduced and in 1992 he retired.

Mr Blitz first complained of a shortage of breath in July 2007 and he died in Cheltenham General Hospital on January 23 last year.

A post mortem examination revealed that although he was suffering from heart disease, the cause of death was malignant mesothelioma.

The coroner recorded a verdict of ‘Industrial disease’. died