Cleaner died due to asbestos at college

A WOMAN who died from fatal asbestos-caused lung disease mesothelioma was exposed to the deadly material at Grimsby College where she worked as a cleaner, an inquest heard.

Brenda Waddell, 61, of Westhill Road, Grimsby, died on September 9 this year after being diagnosed with the cancer in February.

It is thought Mrs Waddell, who leaves behind her husband, Roy, a retired electrical mechanic, developed the disease after being exposed to asbestos at the then Grimsby College, where she worked as a cleaner from 1984 to 2007. Asbestos was known to cause mesothelioma by 1960.

At the time she was employed by Grimsby Council and was contracted out to the college.

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Before her death, Mrs Waddell prepared a statement which detailed where she believes she was exposed to the material.

It read: "In 1984, I joined Grimsby College as a cleaner. I was employed by Grimsby Council and was contracted out. I believe it was during this period of employment at the college that I was exposed.

"I have been informed that in the early years there was a removal programme from the boiler house.

"I was not able to walk down the nearby corridor but I believe me and the other cleaners would have still been exposed to it.

"I have also been informed that Mr Ken Lord, from Laceby Road, died from mesothelioma after working there as a contractor.

"He was also aware of the process of removal of asbestos at the college, which was mainly the ground floor, for which I was responsible for cleaning the classrooms, toilets and corridors.

"There were also six pre-fabricated huts which I have been told contained asbestos.

"I regularly cleaned these. I remember they were very cold in the winter. I understand the fabrications of these buildings was asbestos.

"We were never warned of the dangers of asbestos exposure and I can only remember one removal programme, although I gather there may have been others."

Recording a verdict of industrial-related death, district coroner for North East Lincolnshire, Paul Kelly, said: "Mesothelioma is nearly always associated with exposure to asbestos and in Mrs Waddell's case this is no different.

"Between 1984 and 2007 in various occasions while working as a cleaner at Grimsby College she was exposed to asbestos that led to the disease causing her death.

"It is on this basic, primary fact that I am satisfied Mrs Waddell died as a result of an industrial-related disease."