Asbestos death prompts coroner’s warning

West Sussex County Council has vowed to do whatever it can to ensure the safety of staff after a coroner warned they could be at risk from asbestos dust on old files.

Bridget Dolan, assistant coroner for West Sussex, had previously taken the unusal step of issuing a Prevention of Future Deaths report before an inquest had been held.

It followed the death last year of 79-year-old Brian Easey, a formersuperintendentregistrar with the county council.

MrEaseyhadbeendiagnosed withmesotheliomaandprovided awitnessstatementoutlininghis exposure to asbestos over many years.

The report said Mr Easey began working for West Sussex County Council in 1984, and for 16 years was based in Mill Road, Worthing, where the repository was clad in asbestos.

The report outlined how he would brush away the dust with his sleeve ‘causing the dust to be releasedintotheairaroundhim’.

In his statement, Mr Easey explainedthat,in2006,theoffice relocatedtoCentenaryHouse,in Durrington,andmovingthefiles was‘anextremelydusty’process.

He did the work alone and at the end of each day would be covered in dust. The registers are currently stored in a larger, modern strongroom, the report said.

The report said Mr Easey had previously worked for another local authority outside Sussx, where he had also been exposed to asbestos.

Mr Easey began feeling breathlessinAugust,2020,anda CTscanrevealedhewassuffering frombiphasicmesothelioma.He died on December 13 last year.

The inquest into his death concluded Mr Easey died of industrial disease having suffered from biphasic mesothelioma.

Dr Dolan wrote to the chief executives of two councils highlighting her concern that futuredeathscouldoccurunless action was taken.

In her report, she wrote: “In view of Mr Easey’s description of the dust present on the council records in both locations there appearstometobearealriskthat these records were, and remain, contaminated with asbestos fibres.

“Should there currently be asbestos fibres present on the records this presents a risk of asbestos exposure to all those who come into contact with the records,withanassociatedriskof developing fatal mesothelioma.”

A West Sussex County Council spokesperson said: “We were saddened to hear about the passing of a former colleague.

“The council will continue to dowhateverwecantoensurethe safety of our staff.

“It’s not appropriate for us to commentonthismatterforlegal reasons.”