AROUND 90 former coke oven workers from Gwent are seeking compensation for the heavy toll on their health they claim was caused by exposure to harmful dust and fumes at work over several decades.

They are among 300 across the UK to launch legal action against former employers British Steel and British Coal who they believe are responsible for cancers and respiratory illnesses they now suffer from.

The majority were employed in a range of occupations at coke works during the 1940s-1980s.

Survivors suffer with various respiratory illnesses, including lung cancers, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis and asthma. Many others have since died of these conditions.

Among the survivors is Derek Williams, 71, from Newport, a coke oven worker at Llanwern Steelworks from 1982 until he was forced to take early retirement due to poor health in 1999.

Mr Williams believes his COPD was caused by working on coke oven tops and sides.

“It was a very dusty and dirty job as you would have to go between the pipes to take temperatures. You would be exposed to excessive dust and fumes,” he said.

“We would have to wear an airstream helmet but these were cumbersome and heavy, which I believe led me to suffer from a bad back and a bad neck."

Mr Williams also describes the work as very physical and incessant. His respiratory condition led to breathlessness, then to early retirement as his poor health rendered him unable to do the job.

He now suffers shortness of breath, chest infections and a cough which regularly produces black phlegm.

He manages his condition with steroids and pumps and his daily life has been severely affected.

He said he hopes that by pursuing a claim, some kind of justice will be done.

Depending on a claimant's condition and its severity, compensation could range from a few thousand pounds to more than £100,000, lawyers say.

The group legal action is being handled by solicitors' firms Hugh James and Irwin Mitchell, and follows a landmark High Court judgment last year against a Phurnacite plant in Abercwmboi, near Hirwaun.

This paved the way for other actions in areas particularly badly affected, such as other parts of South Wales and the North East of England where coking and steel plants were particularly prominent.

THE law firms jointly issued a letter of claim against British Coal and British Steel on behalf of the former workers.

"The letters of claim have been sent to the Department of Energy and Climate Change for various plants operated by the National Coal Board/British Coal Corporation and their subsidiaries, as we believe that they have taken over the liabilities for those plants, and Tata Steel UK Limited for various plants operated by British Steel Corporation and their subsidiaries," said a Hugh James spokesman.

Both companies are alleged to have failed to assess correctly the risks of working on coke ovens, and failed to adequately protect workers from the dust and fumes generated.

A limitation amnesty is being sought, to remove strict time deadlines for bringing a usual workplace illness case.

Kathryn Singh, of Hugh James, said: “We now hope the defendants will work with us to resolve our clients’ cases quickly and amicably.”

The Argus approached the Department of Energy and Climate Change and Tata Steel for comment. They had not responded by the time we went to Press last night (THUR).

• Anyone who believes they have developed lung cancer or other respiratory diseases after exposure to dust and fumes over a number of years whilst working at a coking plant, or who has information about conditions at any plant operated by National Coal Board/British Coal or its subsidiaries (National Smokeless Fuels, Coalite, Coal Products), or British Steel or its subsidiaries (including Randolph Coke and Chemicals, Dorman Long), may contact Hugh James or Irwin Mitchell on 0800 652 5524.