Ravenscliffe, Bradford, man exposed to asbestos in RM HQ

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Ravenscliffe, Bradford, man exposed to asbestos in Royal Mail’s HQ, inquest told

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A former postman who was exposed to asbestos while working at Bradford’s Royal Mail headquarters almost 40 years ago died as a result of industrial disease, a Coroner ruled today.

Colin Howdin, 59, died at his home in Ravenscliffe Avenue, Bradford, last June from pneumonia caused by malignant mesothelioma, a condition usually caused by exposure to asbestos.

An inquest in Bradford was told Mr Howdin had worked at the Royal Mail building in Forster Square before being allocated his own delivery round in 1975.

He had moved parcels around the headquarters, a task which sometimes disturbed asbestos fibres lagging pipes in the building.

A statement made by Mr Howdin in March last year, which was read out at the inquest, said the building was refurbished and the asbestos removed shortly before he was given his own delivery round.

He had kept working while the refurbishment was carried out and could “remember the environment being very dusty at this period” with dust particles settling on surfaces.

A post-mortem examination by Dr Philip Batman, consultant pathologist at Bradford Royal Infirmary, found only one asbestos body in Mr Howdin’s lung and concluded there was no evidence to suggest the tumour had been caused by exposure to asbestos.

But Chris Goddard, representing Mr Howdin’s family, said the condition did not need to be caused by sustained exposure to asbestos and there could be a causal link between Mr Howdin’s exposure at work and the disease.

Recording a verdict of death by industrial disease, Coroner Roger Whittaker, said: “There is sufficient evidence for there to be considered on the balance of probabilities that he was exposed to asbestos in the workplace.

“In the large number of cases I have dealt with, I have taken the finding of one body of asbestos to be above the background level.

“I am satisfied that Mr Howdin died from an industrial disease.”