Man who worked unprotected around asbestos 80 years ago died of 'industrial disease' - coroner
A former shipyard labourer who worked unprotected in asbestos dust-filled air during the 1940s and 1950s sadly deteriorated and died in the space of one month, an inquest was told.
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Dublin-born Patrick Joseph Clarke had worked as a joiner and cabinet maker at a shipyard in Glasgow before working on the London Underground.
An inquest in Shrewsbury on Thursday was told that in both workplaces Mr Clarke had worked regularly with asbestos and would remember "cutting through large asbestos sheets". This would cause the dust to spread.
"He was not supplied with any protective clothing," coroner's officer Michael Caesar-Homden told senior Shropshire coroner John Ellery on Thursday.
Mr Clarke, who was 94 years old, started to feel unwell in June this year, suffering with shortness of breath. He was admitted to hospital and and was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a form of cancer associated with contact with asbestos.
Mr Clarke's medical condition deteriorated rapidly and he died at home at 4.50am on July 8.
The cause of death was determined as bronchial pneumonia, contributed to by malignant mesothelioma.
Mr Ellery, who was presiding over the fast track inquest at the Coroner's Court at Shirehall, concluded that Mr Clarke's death had been caused by an industrial disease.
