Expert Asbestos Lawyers Instructed To Investigate Working Conditions At Magnet Joinery Ltd

A Keighley man is appealing for his ex-colleagues to provide information crucial to his legal battle after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an incurable cancer caused by exposure to asbestos decades ago.

Geoffrey Dawson, 79, was diagnosed with the disease in January this year after he started to suffer from back pain and breathing problems in late 2014. He believes that he was exposed to asbestos while working for Magnet Joinery Ltd between the 1970s and 2001.

Geoffrey has instructed expert asbestos-related disease lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate the working conditions at the company and whether more could have been done by his employers to protect him from the deadly dust and fibres which caused his mesothelioma.

Both Geoffrey and his legal team are appealing to his former colleagues at Magnet Joinery Ltd, where he worked from 1973 until his retirement in 2001, to come forward with any information about the presence of asbestos and whether measures were taken to prevent employees being exposed to asbestos.

Nicola Handley, a specialist industrial disease lawyer at Irwin Mitchell’s Leeds office, representing Geoff, said: “Mesothelioma is an aggressive and incurable cancer which causes so much distress for people like Geoff who worked in industries where asbestos was regularly used.

“Sadly, many employers did not do enough to manage the risks of asbestos exposure, despite knowing how dangerous it is. We hope that former employees of Magnet will come forward to help us with our investigations.

“The company was an integral part of the town of Keighley during the period it was based there and it’s important that we now help Geoff and his family get answers about his exposure to the deadly dust.”

During his working life at Magnet Joinery Limited Geoff regularly worked in and around areas where it was very dirty and dusty in the factory. Magnet manufactured several products at the site that are likely to have contained asbestos.

Geoff, said: “My wife, Barbara and I were shocked and devastated by my diagnosis and are struggling to come to terms with it. I have always been fit and healthily throughout my life and enjoyed an active lifestyle.

“I never knew that the work that I did so many years ago would affect my life now. I can no longer do the things I used to enjoy and I’m very concerned about what the future holds for us.

“I really hope that my former work colleagues and employees of Magnet Joinery Ltd will now help the team at Irwin Mitchell and provide any information about the conditions that I worked in so my family and I can get the justice that I deserve.”

Anyone with information about the working conditions at Magnet Joinery Ltd should contact Nicola Handley at Irwin Mitchell’s Leeds office on 0113 220 6233 or email Nicola.Handley@IrwinMitchell.com.