Post Office cleaner spent years sweeping dust from ‘ragged pipes’ – he had no idea how deadly it was

An 83-year-old man who worked as a cleaner for the Post Office for more than 30 years has been found to have died as a result of exposure to asbestos. Joseph Chumnery, who was born in the West Indies in 1940 before moving to the UK aged 19 or 20, died in Charing Cross Hospital in September this year.

He had been admitted to the hospital’s emergency department after a district nurse found him ‘slumped’ on the toilet. At an inquest at West London Coroner’s Court on Thursday morning (October 10), Assistant Coroner Valerie Charbit recorded Mr Chumnery’s cause of death as due to pneumonia, heart failure, and mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a cancer typically induced by exposure to asbestos. The inquest was held based on written submissions, with no live witnesses or any of Mr Chumnery’s family present.

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Ms Charbit read sections of a statement prepared by Mr Chumnery in 2017. It detailed how, following a series of jobs after coming to the UK, he took on the role of a cleaner at the Post Office in 1973.

Initially based in Earl’s Court, he soon moved to the Paddington sorting office, where he spent most of his time at the organisation. In his statement, Mr Chumnery recalled how part of his duty was sweeping up dust left after maintenance work was carried out on ‘old and ragged’ pipes. This dust was full of asbestos fibres thought to be from insulation surrounding the pipes.

He added that he never wore a mask, and was not advised to do so. “I frequently swept up the dust and dirt created by these works,” he said. The Paddington sorting office, in London Street, has since been demolished to make way for Paddington Square Shopping Centre.

Sections of a 2018 doctor’s report were also read by Ms Charbit, which detailed how Mr Chumnery had first gone to his doctor in October 2016 complaining of a shortness of breath.

He underwent a number of tests over the subsequent 12 months, culminating in a visit to Hammersmith Hospital in October 2017 for surgery. In December that year he started chemotherapy at Guy’s Hospital, with his diagnosis being that he had malignant mesothelioma.

At the time of the doctor’s 2018 report, Mr Chumnery was given a life expectancy of around six months. But he surpassed medics’ expectations and his date of death was given as September 24, 2024.

Ms Charbit concluded Mr Chumnery died of ‘industrial disease’, telling the court: “Mr Chumnery worked as a cleaner from 1973 to 2005 and swept up asbestos dust from insulation surrounding pipes which were being repaired frequently in the building where he worked.”

A Post Office spokesperson said following the separation with Royal Mail in 2012, the latter is responsible for sorting offices. A Royal Mail spokesperson said the company is ‘very sorry’ to hear about Mr Chumnery’s passing, but is unable to provide an official comment.

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