UK RAIL TRADE UNIONS: ACTION ON ASBESTOS
Laurie Kazan-Allen
Presented at: Japanese Trade Union Asbestos Workshop
Yokohoma, Japan, November 2007

In the English town of Swindon, Wiltshire, the asbestos cancer mesothelioma is soprevalent that it has been given the nickname: the “Swindon disease.” During the firsthalf of the 20th century, the railway works was Swindon’s largest employer and many of
the 16,000 people who worked there at any given time experienced hazardous
occupational exposures up until the works closed in 1986. The buildings were heatedwith stream pipes lagged with asbestos. In the main erecting shop (the “A” shop), boilers
and pipes were lagged with asbestos. At the Swindon works, asbestos insulation materials
were applied to the boilers, pipes and cylinders of locomotives and restaurant carriages;
after engineering works, the boilers of locomotives were re-clad with fresh asbestos paste.
Crocidolite (blue) asbestos insulation was sprayed onto metal surfaces on the inside ofcarriages. A former Swindon worker recalled:“We could see the asbestos spray in the atmosphere. It landed all over the shop. I
remember blowing asbestos out of tea cups before we could have a cup of tea in ourtea break. It was lying all over the surfaces. There were sacks with asbestos lying
around the shop. There was no extraction.”
Mr. A. worked at the British Rail Swindon Works from 1957 to 1962 as a rivet hotter,an apprentice welder and a laborer on the maintenance gang. In his statement he recalled:“there was asbestos in the roof on the 13 and 15 Shop. Some of the asbestos dust
may have floated down on us. When we were working on the wagons doing repairs,
we had to work on the pipes which were underneath the coaches. When we werecrawling underneath to weld, we could obviously come into contact with them.
They were lagged with white asbestos bandages…
When we worked on the maintenance gang on the roof we would come into contact
with the steam pipes which were lagged with white asbestos. As welders we would
be involved with welding of pipes. We would obviously rub against asbestos
lagging…
I personally worked in the Stamp Shop where there were furnaces. There wasasbestos on the furnaces. I recall there were chimneys there which had to bereplaced. They had to be rolled into shape and replaced. I would have come into
contact with asbestos (while this was going on)…
As welders we all had to go to the welding school in the locomotive side of theRailways. As part of the course, we had to work with asbestos. We had to do gas
and arc welding. Asbestos was provided to us in the form of white asbestos powder.
It was mixed with water into a dough. It was then placed onto the area we were1welding. This was to stop the heat spreading and to concentrate the heat. No masksor special clothing were given. We just had welding overalls. The overalls would
not protect against asbestos. There were no warnings about the dangers of theasbestos… When we went into the gents toilets at the railways, we came acrosssteam pipes which were a few feet above our head which were lagged with whiteasbestos…
As a result (of an explosion), all the ceiling and the asbestos lagging from the pipe
work fell down. It was like a snow storm…
I worked in the 24 Shop. There were pipes under the coaches which were laggedwith asbestos. They used to pull the coaches apart for repair. There was asbestos
behind the panelling which was exposed when they were doing the repairs… At notime were we ever given masks, protective clothing or warnings.”
Statements from employees at the Swindon Rail Works and other railway centers agree
on several points:•••••

employment at the railway works continued over several years and in manycases, decades;
male family members often followed each other into the railways and railwayworks;
during employment at railway works, most workers switched jobs throughpromotion or change of trades;
exposures to asbestos took place in many parts of the works and with routine, if
not daily, occurrence; one former worker from Doncaster wrote: “The railway
workshops were notorious for their lackadaisical attitude towards the health andwell-being of their employees.”no protective clothing or equipment was provided or warnings given (even aslate as 1980).

In the decades since Swindon’s railway works were closed, thousands of ex-employees
have succumbed to asbestos-related diseases. According to HSE statistics, vehicle bodybuilders (including rail vehicles) are at a high risk of contracting mesothelioma, anasbestos cancer. The incidence of this disease is high in geographic areas associated withrailway engineering such as Crewe, Nantwich, Doncaster, Leeds, Derby, Eastleigh andSwindon.
Role of Trade Unions in Railway Industry
As all UK railways and railway works were highly unionized workplaces, many of theasbestos-injured, even if they are now retired, are represented in personal injury
compensation claims by solicitors working for their trade unions. A case in point is thatof Andy Dodds, the Assistant General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritimeand Transport Workers (RMT) in the 1980s. After he retired, Mr. Dodds contracted anasbestos-related disease, probably due to his exposure to asbestos whilst working in thelocomotives’ shed in Scotland. The RMT brought a successful legal claim on behalf of2

his widow. Recent asbestos cases brought by trade unions on behalf of asbestos-injured
railway workers or their surviving family members include:••••

Mr. Beadsworth died of asbestos-related lung cancer (2005); he was exposed toasbestos during the 43 years he worked as a coach fitter at the Locomotive Worksin Derby. The T&G supported this case.
Derrick Lambert died from mesothelioma (2005); he worked for British Rail attheir Wolverton depot for 48 years first as an apprentice and then as a qualifiedcoach trimmer fitting out old railway carriages. He was exposed to asbestos usedfor fireproofing upholstery and lagging carriages. The RMT brought and won hiscase for compensation.
The TSSA union brought a compensation case for the widow of Mr. S who diedfrom mesothelioma in 2004. He had been exposed to asbestos materials installing,overhauling and maintaining electrical equipment in a British Rail workshop at
Wolverton Carriage Works between 1948 and 1993. The claim was settled after
court proceedings had been issued but before a trial was held for £121,000 (29mJPN YEN).
Keith Taylor has pleural thickening, having worked for British Rail and Virgin
Cross Country for most of his career. His first job (1957) was as a steamlocomotive cleaner; he became a locomotive fireman. In both jobs, he disturbed
asbestos cladding around the boilers. In the late 1960s he become a driver onelectric trains and was exposed to asbestos in the padding between the outer andinner skins of the train cabs and passenger compartments. ASLEF brought thiscase; Mr. Taylor received £23,500 (5.6m JPN YEN) compensation.

As can be seen from the examples given above, several trade unions have represented
workers in the railway sector. They include:
1. National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT)
for train drivers, train crew, ground staff, engineers, station staff and people whoworked in signal boxes and on track maintenance. The RMT represents themajority of workers from the railway industry.
2. The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF)
for train drivers and operators in all forms of rail transport, from London
Underground to Eurostar.
3. Transport & General Workers Union (T&G)
is the single union which deals with some companies, Croydon Train Link,Manchester Metro and represents all the company’s workers.
4. Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA)

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for people working in the transport and travel trade industries such as the railways
and associated companies such as London Underground and Transport forLondon.
5. Communication Workers Union (CWU)
represents people working at trackside and in signal boxes.
Unfortunately, not all asbestos-injured railway sector workers are able to accesscompensation through trade unions. According to Paula Walker of the Sheffield andRotherham Asbestos Support Group (SARAG), many former railway workers let theirtrade union membership lapse, having left the industry to pursue other jobs. As lapsedmembers, they are not entitled to union representation. Ms. Walker says that: “themajority of people exposed to asbestos at British Rail who have mesothelioma thatcontact us don’t pursue a claim through a union because of this.” Paul Cooper of theT&G is well known in York as an active trade union member; even though he has beenretired since 2002, he is still the Secretary of the local T&G branch. For this reason, whenformer colleagues from the York Carriageworks are diagnosed with an asbestos-relateddisease they ask for his help. Paul recommends they seek advice from legal specialists
used by the union; the claims for these individuals are usually taken on as private cases.
Solicitor Brigitte Chandler is an asbestos specialist in Swindon. She reports that:“Asbestos claimants come to me because I have worked in Swindon for 30 years
and am well known. The Swindon Community is a close community and they still
meet regularly at the Railwaymens Club every week. Most of them know me andthe work I do. I confirm that those with Trade Union membership are dealt with bythe Trade Union.”
Details relating to some of the railway cases she has handled over recent years are
itemized below:
Although trade unions have a vital role to play in helping members injured byoccupational asbestos exposures, many of the victims from the railway sector do notbenefit from union support. For these people, the existence of local victim support groups
and access to former colleagues knowledgeable about asbestos issues play a crucial rolein ensuring they obtain appropriate government benefits and compensation owed to themby former employers.
Asbestos Registers
Two railway unions operate asbestos registers. The RMT asbestos register was started
in the 1990s as the country’s main railway works were closing down. Fearing that vital
employment records could be lost, the RMT asbestos register was set up as a safeguard sothat should people develop an asbestos-related disease, a record of their exposuresremains. The RMT register is operated by a law firm in Glasgow and contains thousandsof paper registrations; none of the information is computerized and thus the files cannot4

be electronically searched. The manager of the register said it is rarely used; in fact, in 10years working with it, he has never processed a request for information.
The TSSA asbestos register, run by the law firm of Morrish & Co., has been
operational since 2005 and contains 300 files. Although it is possible to complete an online registration form 1 half of the questionnaires are received in paper format. All theinformation is put onto a computerized database which can be searched by the claimant’sor employer’s name. The manager of the register said that he has not yet been asked toaccess data from the register for an asbestos claimant. He believes this is because theinformation contained on the register relates to relatively recent exposures.
Unless asbestos registers are computerized, their usefulness is limited. Reporting on herexperience, Kate Ward says:“As the Manager of the Library and Information Services at Thompson’s Solicitors,
I have been overseeing the operations of trade union asbestos databases since 2002
when AMICUS decided to compile a register of their asbestos-exposed members.
These records came to our office in Manchester as paper files and it was my job tooversee the input of the data into the computer; it was a nightmare.
Since then we have undertaken the supervision of asbestos registers for other tradeunions including: ASLEF, the General and Municipal Boilermakers Union (GMB),
the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematographand Theatre Union (BECTU) and the Durham Miners. Nowadays, union members
can register their exposure to asbestos in hard copy (on paper) or on-line.
We are routinely asked to access information on the asbestos registers. Today, forexample, I was contacted by a mesothelioma widow, whose husband worked atseveral named locations for specific time periods. We will use the information she
provided to search the databases to see if we can locate potential witnesses
employed at these workplaces to give evidence in the case being brought on behalfof his family.
It is imperative that asbestos databases are searchable by parameters such asemployers, employment date or workplace. Unless this is the case, the information
they contain will have little value.”
Prevention
As well as helping those previously exposed, trade unions have a responsibility toprotect the current generation from harmful occupational exposures to asbestos. Despite
the fact that asbestos is banned in the UK, asbestos contamination of railway
infrastructure remains even if asbestos has been removed from rolling stock. The Controlof Asbestos at Work Regulations 2004 mandates that all public buildings must be audited1

http://www.tssa.org.uk/work/asbestos.pdf

5for the presence of asbestos and that asbestos must be safely managed. However, railway
companies continue to drag their feet on conducting asbestos surveys preferring todispute what is and is not a “building.”
For example: Are lineside telecommunications signal boxes housing small
exchanges “buildings”? Network Rail says they are not and so asbestos audits are
not compulsory. Although there is asbestos contamination of the signal box inCanterbury, and the signaling center at Earls Court, London, signal andtelecommunications engineers are expected to work on them.
The RMT advises safety representatives to “insist that any asbestos work is done bycompetent, qualified staff and the best way of ensuring this is by the use of Licensed
Contractors.” On-going negotiations with several rail companies over what asbestos
exposures are legal under the newly-introduced concept of “short duration and sporadicwork” are proving fruitless and, in 2008, the RMT hopes to announce a zero tolerance
policy to all asbestos exposure.
Training
By law, employers are responsible for informing workers of all occupational risks.
Unfortunately, when it comes to asbestos, employers have been known to be economicalwith the truth. The RMT runs health and safety courses devised by the Trades Union
Congress which include modules about occupational risks and duties of employers but
there is nothing specifically about asbestos in these courses. The RMT alerts its members
to asbestos developments through its newsletters. The TSSA website 2 has information on
topical asbestos issues including a fact sheet compiled in conjunction with the Trades
Union Congress.
Conclusion
While UK railway companies profit from cost-cutting on health and safety, a newgeneration of workers is being endangered by hazardous asbestos exposures. The need toaddress the needs of former and current workers was a common theme amongst
specialists consulted during the research for this paper. Two trade unionists with decadesof experience between them specified their “wish list” on asbestos action as follows:
Phil Dee, formerly the RMT’s Health & Safety Officer for 15 years, said that:
1. the asbestos-exposed must be given assistance to obtain compensation fromformer employers; these employers should bear the financial responsibility for themedical treatment of the injured;2

http://www.tssa.org.uk/article=1.php3?id_article=1016

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2. prevention is the key to eliminating future cases of disease; asbestos must beidentified, encapsulated, labeled and, wherever possible, removed and asbestos
legation must be rigorously enforced - unfortunately, the Railway Inspectorate iseven less effective then the HSE.
Since 1976, Paul Cooper has been an active member of the T&G. He was the chairmanof the T&G branch at the York Carriageworks and is now the branch secretary eventhough he is retired. In 2006, he was a founding member of the York Asbestos Group.
Asked for his recommendations, Paul commented that1. workers have been dying from asbestos-related diseases for 100 years; in the UK
little investment is made into the medical research and treatment of these diseases
and people continue to die 6-18 months after diagnosis;
2. the asbestos ban needs to be 100%; asbestos registers for all companies need to beverified by the HSE and made accessible to every worker at risk of exposure.
Having read through many statements by asbestos claimants who worked in the railway
sector, it is no wonder that asbestos disease is widespread in areas with railway legacies
such as Swindon. The fact that the Swindon town motto is "Salubritas et Industria"(Health and Industry) is the ultimate irony for those who were betrayed by their former
employer. Although it is true that asbestos exposures experienced by railway workers
today are lower than those in the “bad old days,” no exposure to asbestos is safe. In theUK and Japan, people who work on the railways will continue to contract asbestosrelated diseases until all the asbestos on rolling stock and infrastructure is safely removed.
Until then, every effort must be made to support those affected and educate those at-risk.
Prevention is the only cure.

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