April 28 Is Internationally Recognised As Workers’ Memorial Day To Remember Those Killed Through Work

Leading workplace injury and illness lawyers at law firm Irwin Mitchell’s Newcastle office are appealing for information on International Workers’ Memorial Day as they continue to fight for justice for those who have lost their lives to mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos during their working life.

Mesothelioma is an aggressive terminal asbestos related cancer that can take decades to develop after exposure to asbestos dust, usually in the workplace. There are currently around 2,500 deaths from the disease a year in the UK.

Irwin Mitchell has the largest dedicated Asbestos Disease Litigation Team in the UK and the firm has represented several thousand asbestos disease victims and their families. Representatives from Irwin Mitchell’s offices around the country are supporting a series of Workers’ Memorial Day Events.

Workers’ Memorial Day is a day to ‘remember the dead and to fight for the living’ by paying respects to those who have died as a result of their employment, continuing to improve health and safety standards in the workplace, and increase protection in place for employees.

Roger Maddocks, a Partner and expert industrial disease lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: 

Expert Opinion

“Thousands of people still die each year in the UK as a direct result of being made to work in unsafe conditions. Health and safety has come a long way in recent years but the figures show there is still much to do.

“Sometimes they are the victims of tragic but avoidable accidents, or, as with many of our clients, they were exposed to asbestos by their employers many years ago and have, in most cases, been made to suffer a terrible death as a result.” Roger Maddocks - Partner

The specialist asbestos-related disease lawyers at Irwin Mitchell’s Newcastle office are appealing on Workers’ Memorial Day to the former colleagues of four men who lost their lives to mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos dust and fibres while at work. The men are: John-James Burke, Ronald Bell, and Ronald Flowdy.

John Burke, from Hamsterley Colliery, was diagnosed with the disease after suffering with pain in his chest and breathlessness. He tragically passed away just three months later in December 2015 aged 69.

John’s legal team believes he may have been exposed to asbestos while working for construction firm Gilbert & Ash, where he worked as a labourer from 1966 until 1969. During this time John worked on the construction of the Cruddas Park Shopping Centre.

While alive, John told his legal team that he worked alongside a number of other tradesmen during the project and that they would often use asbestos substances. He explained that asbestos was commonly used to manufacture the shops and that asbestos dust and fibres would often be released into the working atmosphere.

Ronald Bell, from Wallsend, died at the age of 84 following a short battle with the disease. It is believed that Ronald came into contact with asbestos when employed at Parsons Marine Turbine Company Limited, between 1946 and 1949, at the firm’s factory on Davy Bank.

While he was alive, Ronald, a father-of-two, recalled to his legal team that the pipework in the factory was lagged with asbestos. He said maintenance and repairs of the pipework was conducted regularly and that workmen would often remove the asbestos lagging in order to carry out their work.

Father-of-two Ronald Flowdy, 94 from Hebburn, passed away in September 2016, three months after being diagnosed with mesothelioma.

Ronald, who served in the RAF during the Second World War, is believed to have been exposed to asbestos while he worked for A Reyrolle & Company Limited as an electrical fitter from the 1930s to the 1970s. The firm manufactured switchgear and motors and asbestos was commonly used in the electrical manufacturing process.

Anyone with information is asked to please contact Michael McGowan on 0191 279 0104 or email Michael.McGowan@IrwinMitchell.com.