Leicester Born Builder Dies Because Of Exposure To Asbestos.

By James

Category: Industry

Building site exposure to asbestos claimed the life of a builder from Leicester.

An inquest determined that the builder from Leicester's death was likely caused by exposure to asbestos dust on construction sites. It occurs about 50 years after he originally began working on the projects.

The conclusions were reached during Graham Eagles' inquest. According to CornwallLive, the coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly believes that the 65-year-old's exposure to asbestos contributed to his death. The builder from St Austell, Cornwall, passed away in March in 2022.

It is believed that Mr. Eagles was exposed to asbestos dust while working as a builder in the 1970s and 1980s, after leaving his hometown. This occurred when he visited construction sites in Redruth and Truro.

The mesothelioma, an aggressive kind of cancer that appears in the lining of organs including the lungs, was the cause of Mr. Eagles' death, according to the inquest's findings. This is believed to have directly resulted from working on construction projects.

After beginning his apprenticeship as a mason at builders' LARK limited in the middle of the 1970s, Mr. Eagles relocated from Leicester to Cornwall. Mr. Eagles continued working for the company for a further seven years after completing his three-year apprenticeship.

But he frequently came into contact with asbestos dust during this ten-year employment with LARK. This occurred as he was developing housing complexes in West Cornwall with brand-new residences. He was exposed because he used asbestos boards to seal off the space between walls, which were frequently brittle and split. When cut, they would also produce a lot of dust.

Mr. Eagles relocated in the 1980s and went into business for himself, working with tradespeople like carpenters. He would have to cut asbestos soffits while standing on scaffolding, creating a cloud of dust in the process.

This project wouldn't have an effect on Mr. Eagles' health until years later. Just before Christmas 2020, Mr. Eagles went to his doctor with complaints of exhaustion and breathing issues, and the doctor at first thought it was a worsening of Mr. Eagles' pre-existing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

However, the builder's prostate and lungs were shown to have problems after private CT scans. Mesothelioma was later discovered through a biopsy.

The following year saw a steady decline in Mr. Eagles' health as immunotherapy and ultimately chemotherapy failed to control his mesothelioma. And in March of 2022, he would pass away from the illness.

Coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Stephen Covell stated during the inquest that he had little doubt in concluding that Mr. Eagles' exposure to asbestos dust contributed to the development of mesothelioma, also known as the industrial sickness. Making a decision on those lines, he was to say: “Asbestos dust is more or less the only cause of mesothelioma. I have no hesitation therefore to find that it was exposure to asbestos during his employment as a builder in the 70s and 80s which is the probable cause of Graham’s mesothelioma.”

---

Professional Asbestos Surveys Carried Out Throughout Leicester

We do asbestos surveys for premises throughout Leicester and have been helping our clients find and dispose of this dangerous material for many years.