‘We want answers for Steven’
WIDOW OF PENSIONER WHO DIED FROM AN INDUSTRIAL DISEASE IS HOPING FORMER COLLEAGUES CAN HELP HER GET JUSTICE
THE widow of a former Huddersfield ICI worker who died after being diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease is making a heartfelt plea to former workmates to establish how he fell ill.
Steven Haythorne, 77, from Batley died after being diagnosed with asbestosis - a long-term inflammation and scarring of the lungs due to breathing in asbestos fibres. The condition often develops decades after exposure to hazardous material.
Following his diagnosis in 2018, Steven instructed asbestosrelated disease experts at Irwin Mitchell to investigate his illness and where he could have come into contact with asbestos.
Since his death, his wife of 57 years, Jacqueline, has continued the investigation alongside his legal team. An inquest concluded that Steven died as the result of an industrial disease.
Jacqueline, 76, said: “Steven was such a loving husband and it’s still terribly difficult to accept him no longer being here.
“When he was diagnosed, it came as such a shock to us, and to think that his work could have been to blame is awful.
“Watching Steven deteriorate was devastating and I know that nothing will ever bring him back, but I hope that we can get the answers he sought before he died. That’s all I can do now to try and get him the justice he deserved. I would be so grateful if any of his former workmates could help.”
As part of Global Asbestos Awareness Week, Steven’s loved ones are now seeking information from his former colleagues on the working conditions he faced and they are keen to hear from anyone who worked alongside Steven at ICI’s Huddersfield site, now Syngenta, or when he worked on Thornhill Power Station in Dewsbury while employed by the Central Electricity Generating Board.
Steven, a dad and grandad, was employed by ICI between 1961 and 1966, and later again between 1969 and 1993, based at its Huddersfield site on Leeds
Steven was such a loving husband and it’s still terribly difficult to
accept.
Road. He initially worked as an apprentice fitter, before qualifying as a maintenance fitter, and from 1979 onwards, he also worked as an engineering planner, engineering foreman and power station shift manager.
It is believed that he may have been exposed to asbestos when removing lagging from pipework, with colleagues undertaking the same work within the vicinity of his area. Steven did this for around 20 years, with some of the work carried out in the boiler houses. Between 1966 and 1969, Steven was employed by the Central Electricity Generating Board, where he worked in the boiler houses and on generators at power stations. In particular, he worked on the Thornhill Power Station.
Anyone with information can contact Lucy Andrews on 07885 261317 or by email at lucy. andrews@irwinmitchell.com