Asbestos-Related Disease Experts Investigating Exposure At Bristol Factory

The devastated daughter of a man who dedicated his entire working life to Rolls-Royce is calling on her father’s former colleagues to come forward with information about how he was exposed to asbestos, which caused him to develop mesothelioma.

Derek Bevan died in October 2014 aged 76 after a short battle with the terminal lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos dust and fibres decades ago.

His daughter Sally, 49, born in Bristol and now living in Epsom, Surrey has now instructed expert asbestos-related disease lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate how her father may have been exposed to asbestos while working at Rolls-Royce’s factory in Patchway, Bristol, where he was employed from 1955 to 2001.

Derek began working for the company as an apprentice at the age of 16 and took up many different roles in different departments. Derek retired from his long career with Rolls Royce in 2001 as a Supplies Engineer in the Component Department. Sadly, he was unable to provide exact details of how he may have been exposed to asbestos before his death.

His daughter Sally told Irwin Mitchell that her father worked on aircraft engines, checking for potential faults and would regularly use a camera encased in fire retardant material. She believes the camera would have been protected by asbestos.

She remembers her father talking about working on the Radial Piston, Harrier, Ram Jets and Olympus engines during his time at the Patchway facility. Derek also told his daughter about the various sites within the facility where he worked, including the boiler house, the test beds, Aston Down and an area known by Rolls-Royce workers as the ‘Gin Palace’.

Sally and her legal team at Irwin Mitchell are now appealing for anyone who worked alongside Derek at Rolls-Royce or anyone with information on the presence of asbestos at the site, as well as details of any asbestos removal that took place at the Rolls-Royce site to come forward with this crucial information.

Isabelle Selley, an expert asbestos-related disease lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: 

Sally said: “We are still struggling to come to terms with the loss of Dad and we have been left angry and upset to think that his mesothelioma may have been caused by his exposure to the dust and fibres while working at Rolls-Royce.

“He dedicated 46 years of his life to the company and we want to know how and why he could have come into contact with asbestos.

“We hope that his friends and colleagues at the Patchway facility will come forward and provide the information our legal team at Irwin Mitchell needs to get us the answers we so desperately need.”

Anyone with information on the presence of asbestos at the Patchway Rolls-Royce facility in Bristol should contact Isabelle Selley on 0117 926 1522 or email Isabelle.Selley@IrwinMitchell.com. 

Our expert mesothelioma claims team will provide you with free initial advice on your compensation claim if you or a loved on has been diagnosed with mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure. See our Asbestos-Related Disease Claims Guide for more information.