Case study 2: 'I was told not to kick up the dust'

Published on Tuesday 12 April 2011 18:19

Michael Johnstone, 67, from Ruchazie, Glasgow, worked for 13 years in Cape Board and Panels factory.

He was diagnosed with pleural plaques in 2004.

He said: "When I started working for Cape in 1979, they had just stopped using asbestos, but asbestos dust is like nuclear fall-out. Even if they close that nuclear plant in Japan, the site and the surrounding area will be contaminated by radioactivity for years. Asbestos dust is exactly the same.

"The Cape factory was covered in it. It was everywhere, from the skirting boards and ledges to the rafters. I've lost count of the number of people I worked with who have since died, but of course at the time it was never put down to asbestos."

Mr Johnstone said that since being diagnosed with pleural plaques, he had two "run-ins" with cancers unrelated to his lungs, but said that he lived with the constant anxiety that his condition was getting worse.

He said: "If you get a cold that goes into your chest you think: 'is that bloody asbestos going through my body?'"