Specialist Lawyers Investigate Whether More Could Have Been Done by Companies To Protect Him

Former shipping and boiler engineer instructs specialist lawyers to investigate if his asbestos-related cancer was caused by his employment.  

Brian Jackson, 78, from Ossett in Wakefield, is seeking help from former colleagues after discovering his diagnosis of Mesothelioma, an asbestos related cancer, after working in the Merchant Navy for many years and as an industrial boiler engineer for a local company in Sheffield.

In light of Worker’s Memorial Day (28 April), a day dedicated to those who have lost their lives from their work, Brian and his family call for safety standards in the workplace to be improved to prevent other workers developing illnesses related to chemical exposure.  

Specialist lawyers are now investigating whether more could have been done by his shipping employers and the local company to protect him, and how his asbestos may have arose.

During his shipping career, Mr Jackson started as a fireman. He had an extensive career sailing on many ships including voyages on the Queen Elizabeth to New York in the 1960s. He also recalls working on motor ships carrying cargo in Europe and also spending an extensive period of time working on sea dredging ships as an engineer.  By the end of his career in the Merchant Navy he was engaged as a chief engineer up until the late 1970s/early 1980s. 

When Mr Jackson sought permanent employment in a more stable career, he considers that he may have continued to be exposed to asbestos as a result of his working activities.

Mr Jackson went to work for Boiler Operation & Management Ltd whose head office was in Mansfield in the early 1980s.  He was based at their office in Sheffield on Glossop Road.  He worked on contracts all over Yorkshire, Newcastle and Lancashire but mainly worked alone carrying out cleaning and servicing repairs to boilers. 

He recalls working in boiler rooms on many occasions in areas such as hospitals, properties for the council and also local coal boards.  He considers that his exposure to asbestos may have also arisen in the work that he carried out in relation to boilers and pipework.

Nicola Handley, a specialist industrial disease lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, Leeds office representing Brian, said:

Expert Opinion

“Mesothelioma is an aggressive and incurable cancer, which causes so much distress for victims like Brian who spent a long career in the Navy and also working for industries where asbestos exposure may have arose.

“Sadly employers did not do enough to manage the risk of the asbestos exposure even as late as in the 1980s when extensive legislation had already been passed.

“We are now appealing to any of Brian’s former colleagues who worked with him particularly at Boiler Operation & Management Company or other engineers who spent time in the Merchant Navy working on ships owned by British Dredging (Sand & Gravel) Ltd, or Boston Offshore Maintenance Ltd to contact us in order to discuss the working conditions that Mr Jackson would have been required to endure. Brian worked alongside other colleagues most of the time, except for when on call.

“Brian, his wife and family are very shocked by the diagnosis as he was fit and well prior to this condition. They are now trying to ensure that he has all the care and support that he needs as his condition progresses.”
Nicola Handley - Senior Associate Solicitor

Mr Jackson first started noting symptoms of the mesothelioma in September 2015.  At first he thought it was a cold but following further investigation he was diagnosed with mesothelioma in January 2016. 

Brian said, “I really hope that my former colleagues will help the team at Irwin Mitchell to give any information about the conditions that I worked in, in order for my family and I to get the justice that I deserve.“