Keith Atkinson
Keith belongs to: The Doxford Engine Friends Association
Keith served his apprenticeship in various departments at Doxford's, leaving in 1959. He spent time at sea with the Bank Line working through the ranks to become Chief Engineer Officer. Keith has spent the last 20 years working in marine consultation and surveying.
Keith was interviewed by Carl Greenwood on 9 March 2006. The interview took place at Sunderland Museum and lasted 29 minutes and 57 seconds.
Asbestos
"Unfortunately, there was no, the work people were kept in total ignorance in regards to any, any problems with asbestos"
Unfortunately, there was no, the work people were kept in total ignorance in regards to any, any problems with asbestos. And consequently we had an old blunt machine hacksaw blade which we had, which we used to cut up the different, the different types of asbestos, the rope and the sheet and everything else, and of course you can imagine the amount of debris and fibres that were floating around at the time when these were being cut- it was not very healthy at all, we learnt later.
And it’s a sad indictment when years later we actually researched the subject of asbestos usage and find that it was actually known hundreds of years ago, even by the Romans and the Greeks that asbestos, people weaving asbestos were prone to lung diseases and died very early. And of course there’s been, there’s been all sorts of recommendations passed by the factory inspectorate over the years that anybody working with asbestos should be completed shielded from the fibres with all sorts of extraction equipment taking all the fibres to a safe area. Of course, this was not in place and there were no notices whatsoever at Doxford’s.
And it’s really sad, and particularly over the years, where the problem of asbestos can lie dormant in the body for many years, forty, fifty years, so latterly we’ve seen quite a number of colleagues, ex-colleagues who have passed away with asbestosis and various diseases attributed to asbestos.
Keith has 12 memories in the memorynet:
Keith's memories with a Danger theme:
Asbestos
Keith's other memories:
- His father
- Uncle Ted
- Starting at Doxford's
- Finishing apprenticeship and going to sea
- First voyage with the Bank Line
- Returning to work in the North East
- The value of a Doxford's apprenticeship
- Skills and experiences from Doxford's apprenticeship
- The atmosphere at Doxford's
Apprenticeship certificate- Doxford's reference
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