Bob Mattimore
Bob was born in the District General Hospital in South Shields in November 1936 and grew up in the Tyne Dock area of South Tyneside.
Bob first started working at Swan Hunter Dry Dock in 1967 as a chemist and his job involved testing tanks that contained oil to make sure they were safe for men to enter. Bob also worked in the building yards and did industrial hygiene work; testing for fumes and asbestos. He also performed checks on welding and burning fumes and other areas where men were exposed to hazardous environments.
Bob worked at Swan Hunter for eight years and left in 1975.
Bob was interviewed by Alex Magin on 15 March 2007. The interview took place at Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths and Museum and lasted for 43 minutes.
Bob Mattimore's Memories
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Transcript
Can you tell me what your job involved? What was a regular day like?
Well it was varied, mainly it involved getting the information, well testing the tanks to see that they were safe for entry for men to go in and work. Tanks in particular contained oil or oil products. But I Also, with my chemistry background I realised that some of the tanks had not had oil, but had had water in and they were depleted in oxygen so I soon instigated the testing of tanks that had just been ballis tanks so make sure that it was safe for men. After that the tanks were cleaned and I certified them safe for hot work. This was a requirement of the regulations – the shipbuilding repair regulations.