Asbestos victim appeals for help from Cardiff brewery workers

Posted: 25th Aug 15 11:45 AM

A pensioner suffering from an asbestos-related disease is appealing Cardiff’s former Brains brewery workers to help secure him justice and the care he needs.

Colin Morgan, aged 68 from Penarth, was exposed to asbestos dust and fibres during his working life. He has since developed a serious lung disease that causes severe breathlessness and limits daily activity that most people take for granted.

With the help of the National Asbestos Helpline, Colin is appealing to former employees of S A Brain & Co Ltd who worked in the brewery’s head office in Caroline Street, Cardiff. He would like anyone to come forward if they know about the asbestos within the premises during the 1970s and 1980s.

The brewery contained a large network of asbestos-insulated pipes which ran throughout the premises, including the cellars, steam room and boiler room. It was Colin’s job to sand and paint the asbestos lagged pipes during refurbishment.

Helen Bradley, an experienced industrial disease specialist and partner with Alderstone Solicitors, says: “We’d like to know exactly where all the asbestos lagged pipes where within the brewery, and any details about the laggers and the work carried out on the pipes.

“We also know that an old mash tun – a type of vat in which malt is mashed during the brewing process – was removed from the premises while Colin worked there. These huge vats were insulated with asbestos to help maintain a constant temperature. We’re hoping that former employees with more information like this will come forward to help Colin.”

Jan Garvey, from the National Asbestos Helpline, says: “Asbestos-related diseases, like asbestosis and pleural thickening, can take 10 to 50 years to develop after exposure to the deadly dust and fibres.

“When the symptoms finally take hold they can make retirement a misery. Simply walking a short distance can leave a person struggling for breath and they can develop a debilitating cough, tiredness and weight loss. Colin needs his former colleagues to come forward or he will struggle if he can’t get the right support to help him cope with the lung disease.”

Anyone with information about the presence of asbestos within the Brains’ brewery in Caroline Street, Cardiff, should contact Jan Garvey at the National Asbestos Helpline on freephone 0800 043 6635 or email jan@nationalasbestos.co.uk. Your details will remain confidential.