A 65-YEAR-OLD Berkeley man exposed to asbestos at work from the 1960s to the late 1980s died of an industrial disease, a coroner has ruled.

The inquest into the death of John Ormrod heard that he died in March 2011 from malignant mesothelioma, a fatal cancer invariably caused by asbestos exposure.

Mr Ormrod, of Berkeley Vale Park, had worked at Turners cement works in Widnes from 1966 until 1973 and at Laporte Industries in the Cheshire town from 1973 until 1988.

In a statement made before his death in support of a compensation claim, Mr Ormrod said Turners manufactured a range of asbestos products including pipes, guttering and sheets.

He said the asbestos flaked and crumbled from the outside of the pipe moulds and a light coloured dust settled on workers' hands and aprons. The factory floor was littered with asbestos dust and at the end of each shift, he would help brush the dust into bins.

The pipes were finished off by hand-filing and Mr Turner said this was "filthy work" with asbestos dust getting in his hair and on his clothes. He was working with asbestos "all day every day" at this time.

He said workers were only provided with masks when cleaning pipe mandrills, which were not compulsory and were often removed because they became clogged with asbestos.

At Laporte Industries, there was a tremendous amount of asbestos-lagged piping. The asbestos was in poor repair and fitters worked in pairs to strip the lagging and replace it. On one occasion when temperatures in the factory soared, asbestos sheets were removed by smashing them with hammers.

Mr Ormrod was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in October 2009 after suffering persistent chest infections. He underwent chemotherapy treatment and was reasonably well until March this year when he started to deteriorate. He died at his home on March 16.

A post mortem examination was carried out by pathologist Dr Linmarie Ludeman and she said sample analysis revealed 34,445 mineral fibres per gram of dry lung tissue. This was a low reading, she said, but within the range consistent with asbestos exposure during employment.

Dr Ludeman gave the cause of death as due to malignant mesothelioma.

Gloucestershire deputy coroner David Dooley said it was his understanding that Mr Ormrod's civil claim had been settled in his favour.

There was clear evidence, he said, that Mr Ormrod's fatal disease had been caused by exposure to asbestos at work and he gave a verdict that he had died from the industrial disease malignant mesothelioma.