Expert Lawyers Investigating Asbestos Exposure That Caused Illness

The family of a sheet metal worker are appealing to his former colleagues for help to prove he was exposed to asbestos during his working life, after their legal team at Irwin Mitchell commenced court proceedings against his former employers.

James ‘Jim’ Hacking, from Mirfield, West Yorkshire, died in October 2013, aged 67, after a short battle with mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer which affects the lining of the lungs and is caused by exposure to asbestos decades before the symptoms begin to show.

Shortly after his death Jim’s son, James, instructed specialist asbestos-related disease lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate where and how his dad was exposed to asbestos dust and if more could have been done to protect him from the material.

They believe Jim was exposed to asbestos during his time as a sheet metal worker at the Tru-Form Sheet Metal Company in Gomersal, West Yorkshire, where he worked between 1972 until 1974 and again, later, between 1975 and 1979.

His job involved him carrying out fabrication work on various sites where he clad boilers and pipes. In carrying out this work he was frequently exposed to asbestos dust and fibres.

Now, together with his legal team at Irwin Mitchell, James is appealing to Jim’s former colleagues to come forward with information that will help him understand how his father came into contact with asbestos and what measures, if any, were in place to protect employees at the company.

James, 47, has told his legal team how he remembers his dad working away at Catterick Garrison while employed by Tru-Form. The job would involve him being away for the week and back at weekends.

James said: “After dad’s diagnosis, he would regularly bring up the job at Catterick Garrison. He would recall seeing the asbestos dust in the air when the light came through the windows of the room in which they were working. He described the air as being thick with it and said he and his colleagues were not given masks when doing this work.

“Before his diagnosis, dad was very fit and active man and it was so hard to see his health deteriorate so quickly.

“We need answers and justice for him. I hope his former colleagues will be able to tell us about the conditions that they and my dad experienced, how he came to be exposed to this lethal material and why something wasn’t done to prevent that exposure."

Jim, who was married to his wife Janet for 45 years, began suffering from a shortness of breath and chest pains in April 2013 while on holiday in Belgium. After returning to the UK and seeking medical attention, Jim was told by doctors that he had mesothelioma in July 2013.

Lucy Andrews, a solicitor at Irwin Mitchell specialising in asbestos-related disease claims, said: “Mesothelioma causes a great deal of distress and suffering to the victims and their families and it is often that the case exposure to asbestos occurs when employers turned a blind eye to the safety implications of working in and around the deadly substance.

“Unfortunately, it is usually the case the symptoms associated with mesothelioma only present themselves decades after the exposure takes place, in Jim’s case it was about 40 years after his exposure. In some cases, once the victim passes away, the only hope families have for justice is to secure the help of former workers who may themselves be at risk of this disease.

“We would ask that anyone who thinks they might have information about the working conditions at Tru-Form Sheet Metal Company, or the presence of asbestos at the firm, to contact us and help Jim’s family secure closure following his death."

Anyone who has information about the working conditions at Tru-Form Sheet Metal Company in Gomersal should contact Lucy Andrews on 0113 394 6782 or email Lucy.Andrews@IrwinMitchell.com.