Information on Asbestos in schools Research Papers Asbestos Policy Suggested Improvements Checking asbestos management Asbestos Guidance for 'System Built' schools
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Asbestos in Schools

The aim of this site is to inform parents, teachers and support staff about asbestos in schools. It gives guidance on how to improve the management of asbestos in schools. It aims to encourage openness in the UK Government's policy towards asbestos in schools.

Check asbestos management standards in your school

The joint teaching union and asbestos consultants association, ATaC, are assessing the standard of asbestos management in 100 schools and are also trialing a system of air sampling that will detect the hidden, deteriorating and dangerous asbestos in schools. The teaching unions have asked their members and school authorities to volunteer their schools for the project.. The assessment is free and the school’s identity will remain anonymous. The Government will be asked to extend the assessments to all schools.

Experienced asbestos consultants assess the standards of management and give guidance on any improvements that might be necessary.

If you wish to volunteer your school then details are here. An example of a typical Teaching Unions' circular to its members about the project is that of the teaching union Voice

INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE

SUMMARY

If asbestos is damaged or deteriorating then the fibres can be released and breathed in. Mesothelioma is a cancer that is almost exclusively caused by exposure to asbestos. A large exposure can cause mesothelioma and so can small exposures, particularly as each exposure is cumulative. There is no known threshold below which there is no risk. Lung cancer can also be caused by exposure to asbestos but it is considered that the exposures will normally have to be greater than the very low levels in the case of mesothelioma.

The majority of schools contain asbestos. The teaching unions consider that total removal is the safest option, whereas the Government consider that "managing" asbestos is the best system.  If asbestos is in a good condition and undamaged then an effective system of management can be effective. However there is increasing evidence that a significant number of schools are not managing their asbestos effectively, and that in many cases the asbestos is not in good condition. Much of it is hidden and a normal asbestos survey will not identify the fact that fibres are being given off, only comprehensive air-testing can determine that. 

The effective management of asbestos in schools is essential because children are particularly vulnerable to developing disease after an exposure to asbestos.

How to check your school's asbestos management
Many schools have good asbestos management procedures and this site gives simple guidance on how parents and teachers can check that this is the case and outlines their right to do so.
Information on Asbestos in Schools

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Where asbestos can be found in school buildings. It identifies the risks and outlines the history of past exposure by teachers and children
It is based on this paper

Asbestos Policy Suggested Improvements Policies that have allowed these exposures to happen, How the management of asbestos can be improved
It is based on this paper

Guidance for System built schools Identifying whether there is a problem. Methods for sealing cracks and gaps. Training and cautions. Control measures. Who should carry out the inspection and subsequent work. Tests to confirm the effectiveness of the work.

Downloadable Papers and briefings

 

Information on Asbestos in Schools Closely referenced, factual paper.
Closely referenced, factual paper.

System Built Schools

If you download any of these papers please also download this one page update of 17 April 2009

Release of Asbestos Fibres in System built schools (Part 1)
Release of Asbestos Fibres in System built schools (Part 2)
Notes on the problem of asbestos in schools and Government policies 22 April. Latest copy of background lecture notes given to asbestos consultants, medical experts, scientists, safety officers, solicitors, HSE Head of Asbestos Policy, Teachers Unions and MPs
Misleading Statements by those in Authority

These statements are often made as part of authorities responses to incidents or queries.

The responses are briefly analysed and the flaws in them identified. Factual references and authorities are given or you can email us for more detail.

If asbestos is in good condition and not likely to be disturbed then it is usually safer to manage it than it is to remove it.”

Major refurbishments undertaken under BSF would normally include the removal of all asbestos, and any deteriorating material would normally be identified by a type 2 survey and removed.”
DCSF have issued a questionnaire "that will give a comprehensive picture about how
schools and Local Authorities are managing asbestos in their system buildings"
There is no need for panic, especially in schools because children are involved. If it is properly managed there is no evidence to suggest they’re at risk. There is also no evidence to suggest asbestos can affect children more than adults.
More Information

If you would like to be kept up to date on developments and papers as they are released please click here.

A further paper will be added to the web-site that discusses Government, HSE and DfES policy and the reasons why those policies have resulted in frequent asbestos incidents in schools with staff and pupils being exposed to asbestos.

The paper is in the final stages of completion.

Links

www.schoolasbestosaction.co.uk gives parents the ability to check their own school's asbestos management and gives them the facts to assess the effectiveness of the plan. The site is also a campaigning site with a list of common sense measures the government, the HSE, LEAs and schools should adopt to make management effective.

Link to the British Asbestos Newsletter

Link to the British G.M Asbestos Victims Support Group


LATEST NEWS ON OPENNESS
AND GOVERNMENT POLICY
- further recent asbestos reports and incidents at this link -

TUC (27 July) Cancelling school building programme puts children at risk of asbestos exposure..... Many of the existing school buildings were built before 1970 and almost certainly contain asbestos. As these buildings fall into disrepair the risk of asbestos exposure increases dramatically. ...... Many schools have spent little on maintenance in the promise of being part of the new schools building programme.....

Patricia Cameron, from Capheaton, Northumberland, died in 2004 from mesothelioma, after she was first exposed to asbestos while working at Otterburn First School in the 1970s. A Coroner's inquest heard the mother-of-three had levels of asbestos in her body similar to that found in people who have worked in heavy industry..... Children exposed to asbestos are five times more likely to develop mesothelioma than adult teachers in the same environment.

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The HSE have taken enforcement action because of failures by local authorities to ensure schools are safe from the dangers of asbestos.

Quote from one HSE notice "You have failed to manage the risks from asbestos.. in particular the primary schools... You do not have adequate measures in place for monitoring the condition of any asbestos"

A press release ( 15 July) is attached at the link above with the local authorities identified, the details of the breaches and evidence of the problem being endemic in schools in the UK. It also identifies action taken and needed by government.

"These are not minor problems that have crept in over recent years; rather they are fundamental problems that are endemic in schools in the UK" Chairman Asbestos Consultants' Association after an ATAC investigation of the problem.

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A Summary of the past and present situation of asbestos in schools is at this link. It is a background paper issued to delegates at the Asbestos and the Law conference in Lioverpool on 18 June 2010

Study of Childhood Exposure to Asbestos Through the Libby Epidemiology Research Project, the researchers hope to better understand the effects of low-level asbestos exposure on vulnerable populations such as children whose lungs aren’t fully developed and to identify protective exposure levels.

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Voice is the Union for educational professionals. They are asking for “The creation of an action plan for asbestos in schools. They say asbestos is present in around 75% of schools in Britain – in ceilings, wall linings and pipe lagging. In the last 25 years, at least 178 teachers have died from mesothelioma, a form of cancer linked to asbestos exposure. There are no statistics for pupil fatalities because of the disease’s long latency. 

The education unions are concerned about the risk to staff and pupils in schools where little is known about its location and condition. ATAC’s recent audit and Voice’s own research reveal that in many schools staff are not aware of the dangers of asbestos; they do not know where it is and are not involved in its management.  

Urgent action is required to improve standards of asbestos management, and to create an action plan for asbestos in schools, including: audits, risk assessments, relevant training and guidance, and for all asbestos to be identified and removed in a phased programme when schools are refurbished. "

Voice has a short "Election Manifesto". The detailed wording on asbestos is item 11 on the link.

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House of Commons Early Day Motion 975 That this House is concerned by the recent report of the Asbestos Training and Consultancy Association, which highlights systemic failings in the management of asbestos in schools; notes with alarm that around 75 per cent. of schools contain this potentially deadly substance; further notes that at least 178 school teachers have died from the fatal disease mesothelioma, which is contracted from asbestos; welcomes the decision by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to set up a steering group to examine all aspects of risk, management and training for asbestos in schools; and calls on the Government to take further steps to tackle this problem and to ensure that adequate guidance and training is in place for the protection of staff and pupils.

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Rosie Peters who died on Monday the 15th March 2010 from mesothelioma.

Rosie retired from teaching in 2007 after a forty year teaching career. It is highly probable that she was exposed to asbestos in a number of schools she taught in so that the cumulative exposure caused her mesothelioma.

Rosie was determined that this would not happen to others and fought strongly and bravely to raise the profile of the terrible legacy of asbestos in schools. As part of that she spoke eloquently at conferences and in a number of TV and press interviews. The Schools Minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry had shared the same platform as her at the Mesothelioma Action day and spoke warmly about her in a Parliamentary debate last March.  On Wednesday in Westminster Hall Paul Rowen MP asked for a minute's silence to be held in memory of Rosie at the start of the meeting of the Asbestos in Schools Group.

Rosie was a lovely and very brave lady.

We will carry on her fight, and we will ensure that schools are made safe from the dangers of asbestos so that what has happened to her will not happen to others.

Clinica (World Specialists in Medical Technology) exclusively reports 11 year old research into children' exposure at school was omitted from official guidance. It says the data is "shocking"

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Parliamentary Question: Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what training is provided to teachers on asbestos management and safety; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of such provision.

Comment: The Minister's reply (24 Feb) appears to be contrary to the regulations and appears to be breaking the law. The relevant regulations state that: “Every employer shall ensure that adequate information, instruction and training is given to those of his employees who are or who are liable to be exposed to asbestos….”. It is known that teachers and support staff have disturbed asbestos and have been exposed, and it is known that unless they are trained they are liable to be exposed in the future. By law the employer is therefore required to give adequate information, instruction and training to the teachers and support staff so that such exposures to both them and the children can be prevented. It is criminal not to do so.

See the question, the Minister's flawed reply and analysis of the Minister's reply at this link.

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Parliamentary Question: Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment she has made of the follow-up work to the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) Asbestos Management in Schools survey; how many visits by the HSE to local education authorities have been made following the survey; and when she estimates the HSE follow-up work will be completed. [318515]. To see the Minister's holding reply and the dangerous implications of the Minister's position see this link

Ministerial action following the damning ATaC report on asbestos in schools (see red box below) The Schools Minister Diana Johnson MP met the asbestos in schools group and ATac representative yesterday (24 Feb) and agreed to the setting up of a steering group to look at all aspects of risk, management and training for asbestos in schools. The first meeting of the steering group will take place next month. See a short Press release

New Report Condemns Schools Asbestos Management

A report from the Asbestos Training and Consultancy Association (ATaC) highlights the failings of schools across the country to protect pupils and staff from asbestos. The Chairman of ATAC, John O’Sullivan, said: “These are not minor problems that have crept in over recent years; rather they are fundamental problems that are endemic in schools in the UK.” See the report

ATaC conducted a pilot assessment on schools who volunteered to take part. The report found widespread failings in asbestos management, with some schools having no knowledge of asbestos management at all. The report argues that schools are not complying with their legal duty to manage asbestos, and training surrounding asbestos in schools is poor or non-existent.

The report will be handed to the Schools Minister Diana Johnson MP on 24 February before a meeting with the Asbestos in Schools Group chaired by Paul Rowen MP.

Read a press release where the General Secretaries of UNISON, Voice, ATL, NUT, NASUWT, ASCL, GMB national president. UNITE and NAHT express their worries and the situation is summarised.

Read a misleading statement from DCSF about an early draft of the ATaC report. The DCSF statement is followed by detailed and forceful comment, based on authoritative references, that identifies the flaws in the statement - including safety flaws in guidance on fibre levels.


Inspectors say schools fail to protect pupils and staff from asbestos Asbestos tests on dozens of schools have revealed "unacceptable" safety standards that could be putting thousands of of children and teachers at risk... Analysts who conducted the nationwide survey found that too few head teachers manage asbestos properly; many rely on containment plans more than a decade old and some have never drawn up plans at all.

The audit, by the Asbestos Testing and Consultancy Association, also found that some schools had asbestos particles in the air ......... A preliminary report said that most schools are failing to comply with their legal "duty to manage" the asbestos, that the responsibility for ensuring safety was dogged by confusion, and that staff training was "either poor or non-existent".

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Asbestos to be left in place in primary school refurbishment under Primary Capital Programme. A parliamentary question and comment on the response is at the link

Major Concerns about Asbestos Management at Non Local Authority Schools. HSE and Local Authorities have made asbestos management in non-Local Education Authority schools a priority for action in 2010. In 2004 this sector was recognised by HSE as being particularly weak on asbestos awareness and management, consequently a priority of the defunct 2004 HSE schools campaign was to target them. As the campaign was dropped no action has been taken, but the poor response from the recent DCSF/HSE questionnaire has once again shown that although there are many flaws in asbestos management in local authority schools, the situation is considerably worse outside. See the link for a press release from the Chair of the Campaign against Asbestos in Schools

For detail see  http://www.lacors.gov.uk/lacors/NewsarticleDetails.aspx?id=22456  then follow the link Delivery Portfolio 2010-11 The notice is at paragraph 4.

A press release from the asbestos in schools group is here

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New Analysis Parliamentary Question 15 Dec Baroness Quin : To ask Her Majesty's Government how many teachers have contracted asbestos-related diseases. [HL648]. The reply from the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Children in the Lords is very flawed and misleading. Each factual error, example of statistical spin, each attempt to conceal teachers' deaths and the proven risk to teachers and each attempt to avoid analysing children's deaths and that of support staff is identified and corrected at the link. Each point is referenced to authoritative sources.

Mr David Kitchin, a master at Farleigh School, Andover died of mesothelioma on 21 January 2009. According to a High Court writ he was exposed to asbestos dust and fibres in the Stone Passageway, the route into the main school .....Overhead central heating and hot water pipes lagged with blue asbestos ran in the passageway, and the lagging was friable, making the atmosphere contaminated with asbestos, the writ says. It is claimed that pupils also disturbed the lagging by jumping up to swing on the pipes.

Parliamentary question 8 Dec. This concerns the DCSF questionnaire that attempted to assess the management of asbestos in schools and the compliance with HSE guidance on asbestos in System built schools. In his answer the Schools Minister, Vernon Coaker MP has refused to publish any of the responses from the questionnaire. The Minister’s reason for his refusal is that “this information may be required for legal purposes.” The same reply was given by HSE to the asbestos in schools group at their meeting with the Parliamentary Under–Secretary Dianne Johnson MP when they asked which local authorities were being investigated and which had failed to reply.

Comment It is unacceptable that the Minister refuses to publish the names of the councils that have failed to reply or are being investigated, for as well as being a legal matter this is a matter that affects the safety of the occupants of schools. Therefore the names of the failing councils who are potentially putting teachers, support staff and children at risk should be made public without further delay.

For further information see :
11 Nov: Meeting with the new Schools Minister Diana Johnson MP   
 DCSF Questionnaire - 15 Nov 09 Determining the scale of the problem in System Built Schools

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Scotland - December 2009. An investigative report by Highland News into the situation of asbestos management in Scottish schools has prompted an HSE Improvement Notice on Highland Council. At the same link a Public Petition on behalf of schools in Scotland asking for action with a discussion by the Scottish Parliamentary Committee of the petition and their proposed action.

30 Nov - A 5 minute video on BBC News about the unsatisfactory results of the DCSF questionnaire about asbestos in System Built schools.

24 and 26 Nov - Three Parliamentary Questions by Paul Rowen MP and answers from Sec of State for Children Schools and Families about dealing with asbestos in the Building Schools for the Future programme

11 Nov: Meeting with the new Schools Minister Diana Johnson MP The Asbestos in Schools Group discussed the HSE/DCSF flawed questionnaire inaccurately claimed as a comprehensive audit of standards of asbestos management in schools. The HSE brief on the returns from the questionnaire (now 7 months late) and the lack of responses made it clear that there are some serious flaws in the manner that schools are managing their asbestos (paper at this link). The Minister and the HSE appeared, for the first time, to be prepared to listen to the Prime Minister (who has already acknowledged there is a problem) and also listen to the united Teachers Unions, the support unions the specialist scientists, the asbestos consultants' association and specialist solicitors - all of whom have been saying there is a problem of asbestos management in schools and have been suggesting practical ways of identifying the scale of the problem and resolving it.

27 Oct: Parliamentary Question: Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many schools have been found to contain hazardous asbestos in the last 12 months; in how many of those schools all asbestos has been removed; at what cost; and what assessment has been made of the health of (a) teachers and (b) pupils attending schools where asbestos has been found. [291622].

Reply includes the statement "It has highlighted the need for further investigation and follow up" into "how asbestos is being managed in System Built schools"

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I have to report the tragic news that Dianne Wilmore died on 15 October. It was the day after she won her fight for justice in the Appeal Court over exposure to asbestos as a child at school. Our deepest sympathies go to her family

Please click this link to see more from her solicitors and from us.

A BBC Today Programme interview describes what the Government is being asked to do to identify asbestos in schools and do risk assesments following Dianne Willmore's death and the Appeal Court ruling in her favour.

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Royal Court of Justice Appeal Verdict - 14 Oct 2009 This is a very important appeal ruling which will have profound consequences for every member of staff and pupil who has been exposed to asbestos in a school. Further details of the case are at this link.

Summary: In July 2009 Liverpool High Court found Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council liable for damages for  negligently exposing Dianne Wilmore to asbestos fibres while she was a pupil at her secondary school in Huyton. The Appeal Court upheld the verdict.

Malta and Tasmania have taken the decision to remove asbestos from schools working with the Commonwealth through the stimulus package and the Building in Education Revolution spending. Comment and detailed statements under "Malta and Tasmania 6 Oct" at this link

17 September TUC Conference Dr Mary Bousted, the General Secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers called for a risk assessment and a comprehensive audit of asbestos in educational establishmentsand the standards of management. She also called for the restarting of the Asbestos in Schools campaign, training for those managing asbestos in schools, and all asbestos to be identified and removed by 2015, with the most dangerous asbestos removed first.  The resolution was passed unanimously.. .A seperate article on this issue by Dr Mary Bousted is at this link. Also see Conference Motion 78

21 September Scottish Parliament. Parents are as concerned in Scotland as they are in the remainder of the UK about their children attending schools where the local authorities do not have robust systems of asbestos management. A petition has therefore been put before the Scottish Parliament where MSPs raised the issue of the standards of management, the unwarranted secrecy surrounding asbestos in schools and the need to determine the extent of the problem so that a proper response can be made. The details of the committee meetings, the petition and the action being taken are at the Scottish Parliament link

31 July Latest update, includes

  • Campaign now part of All Party Parliamentary Group - Letter to all MPs.
  • Parliamentary answers show that Government Policy lacks scientific basis
  • British Safety Council support key principles of campaign
  • Most local authorities and Dioceses fail to respond to DCSF questionnaire on asbestos. Minister promises enforcement action
  • Joint teaching Union and AtaC project to assess asbestos management in 100 schools.
  • Minister fails to act on PM direction

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21 July Parliamentary questions confirm that the Government has no risk assesment model for assessing the health risks to children of exposure to asbestos fibres.

The answers show that the Schools Minister, the DCSF and HSE current guidance that children's exposure to 48 fibres/millilitre of air is "usually insufficent to pose a significant long risk to health" has no sound scientific basis.

It also shows that the Schools Minister recommendation that parents are not informed of their children's exposure unless the "Action Level" has been exceeded is a recommendation based on an outdated standard and is not based on a sound scientific analysis of the risk to the children exposed.

The answers also show that asbestos will generally be left in primary schools during refurbishment

For the Parliamentary Questions, the answers and referenced analysis of the above points click this link.

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Prime Minister acknowledges that there is a problem in schools that has to be addressed. A delegation representing six Teacher Unions presented a paper to the Prime Minister voicing their concerns about the problem of asbestos in schools. The delegates were the General Secretaries of ATL and the NASUWT and the Assistant Secretary of the NUT. In full support and agreement on the statement were the teaching unions Voice, ASCL and NAHTA. Specialist scientists, solicitors, Health and Safety specialist organisations and asbestos support groups are also in full support and agreed the statement. The delegation was led by Paul Rowen MP (Lib Dem Shadow spokesman W&P). Michael Lees was also a delegate. The Union GMB announced it would join the campaign shortly afterwards. The full list is here

The Prime Minister acknowledged that there is a problem and that it would be addressed, and instructed that a further meeting should take place in the near future with the Schools Minister to decide the way forward.

The four key points in the paper are:

  1. A comprehensive audit of the extent, type and condition of asbestos in schools, and the standards of management.
  2. An assessment to be made of the risk to the occupants, with particular emphasis on children.
  3. The asbestos in schools campaign to be reinstated.
  4. All the asbestos is to be identified and removed in a phased programme when schools are refurbished under BSF and PCP.

The complete text presented to the Prime Minister is at this link.

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Parliamentary Seminar contrasts asbestos management in Parliament and that in schools
A Parliamentary asbestos seminar followed the PM meeting. There were various presentations including one describing the well resourced and highly efficient asbestos management systems in the Palace of Westminster. The General Secretary of ATL gave a joint presentation with a teacher dying of mesothelioma. The General Secretary of ATL pointed out the considerable differences between the resources and standards in asbestos management in the Palace of Westminster compared to those in schools.

Daily Mirror report on the meeting

Update 7 May 2009. The update contains a report of a formal complaint about HSE scientific tests (including complaints of non-declared commercial interests, secrecy and lack of peer review). It also includes an analysis of misleading standard statements produced by authorities about asbestos in schools, it reports on the very supportive Teachers Unions AGMs, including a presentation by a teacher dying of mesothelima. It also contains an excellent BBC Radio investigation of school asbestos management at every level.

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The Prime Minister agrees to meeting on 13 May. Liberal Democrat MP Paul Rowen asked the Prime Minister on Prime Minister's Questions to meet a delegation to discuss how concerns over asbestos in schools could be allayed. Responding, Prime Minister Gordon Brown agreed that asbestos was a crucial issue, and agreed to meet the delegation.

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Yesterday (6 May) the Prime Minister also met asbestos campaigners at a private meeting in the House of Commons. On the agenda were a series of issues including: the fatal legacy left by asbestos manufacturing in Britain, the consequences of low level exposures to asbestos, the asbestos contamination of schools and the urgent need for a coordinated national research strategy for medical treatment and cures for asbestos-related diseases.

Having acknowledged the threat posed by low level exposures to asbestos, the Prime Minister confirmed that further discussion on asbestos in schools will take place at a Westminster meeting on 13 May. Full report

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Conference on "Mesothelioma the wider perspective" 12 May 2009 with scientific, medical and legal leaders in the field. There will be a lecture on asbestos in schools. Agenda, speakers, precis of discussions and booking a place at this link. Medway Maritime Conference 2009

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Parliamentary asbestos seminar “Asbestos Update” 13 May. Michael Clapham MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Health and Safety, will chair it. The agenda is at this link. The General Secretary of the Association of Training and Lecturers and Carol Hagedorn, a teacher suffering from mesothelioma will be talking about asbestos in schools. The meeting is for MPs and invited guests.

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NASUWT Conference Calls for removal of asbestos. A terminally ill teacher says ".I am understandably unhappy that the lack of proper asbestos control will end my life prematurely, like some sort of collateral damage or natural wastage in the education game".

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BBC Investigation A detailed, factual investigation by Radio Scotland, applicable to the rest of UK. The BBC web site has now lapsed (some 20 days) but it is now on this link. Quotes: “What we are risking with this are young children's lives. The authorities have to be whiter than white, they have to prove to us there is no asbestos not just assume…. ”Asbestos expert
“If I as a teacher was exposed to it then so also were huge numbers of children that were spending more time than I was in a particular environment. All these children will have grown into adults and are likely to be affected just as I was…”
Teacher with mesothelioma

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NW TUC Conference. Asbestos in Schools. Motion carried unanimously, Hear the speech

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A Teacher's Story " I now have this terrible disease which need not have happened if I had been looked after in my professional environment".
Leader, personal story and article: "Why is asbestos still being allowed to kill teachers and threaten thousands of pupils?" from Sunday Express

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Parliamentary Debate The debate on asbestos in schools covered the issues well - the MP leading the debate was a Deputy Head Teacher so spoke from experience. Unfortunately an analysis of the Minister's reply was less than convincing and demonstrates that children will still be at risk. Analysis and Hansard script of the debate is at this link.

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BBC 1 "Inside Out" ran a report on asbestos in schools on 25 March. It can be seen on the BBC Inside Out site. An earlier report can be seen on this site.

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Welsh Assembly Asbestos Conference 24 March. The conference highlighted the problem of asbestos in schools.  A leading occupational hygienist, Robin Howie, gave a graphic illustration of how deaths from asbestos exposure amongst school teachers is significantly higher than one should expect in an occupation where there should be minimal or no exposure to asbestos. He stated that  between 1980-2000 male teachers have an incidence of mesothelioma deaths (PMR) almost ten times greater than would have been expected if they had had no exposure to asbestos. During the same period female teachers had an incidence almost three times greater. He stressed that the teachers’ deaths are but the tip of the ice-berg. Because for every teacher there are many more children, and they are more vulnerable. However because of the very long latency their mesothelioma deaths occur many years later and are recorded in whatever occupation they had at the time, and not as the result of their asbestos exposure at school. (Western Mail report)

Dr John Osman, chief medical adviser of the HSE, said that 90,000 were expected to die in the asbestos-related disease “epidemic” by 2050.

A senior HSE official Steve Coldrick, director of the HSE’s disease reduction programme, said: “This is an absolute horror story, there’s no getting away from it.”

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Parliament An Early Day Motion has been put forward by Michael Clapham MP. It is for five specific changes in Govenment Policy on asbestos that the Daily Mirror is campaigning for.

There is a No10 petition for the same proposals that you can sign if you wish to make a difference.

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Sadly another teacher has died of mesothelioma

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Update 2nd March 2009 Today the Daily Mirror launched a campaign to raise public awareness of the dangers and issues surrounding asbestos. The first article asks the Government to give financial support for a research centre into asbestos related disease. There is so much bad news associated with asbestos that this is a positive move forward and is a project that we strongly support.

As part of the Mirror’s campaign there will be an article about the problems associated with asbestos in schools. If you have any comment or stories of bad asbestos management, of a lack of awareness or you know of any asbestos incidents in schools then please contact the Mirror at asbestos@mirror.co.uk  or join their blog at: http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/asbestos-campaign/

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.Update 5 February 2009 Parliamentary Asbestos Sub-committee briefed by Teachers Unions, Asbestos Consultant's Association and a Teacher ill with mesothelioma on:

  • Poor asbestos management standards in practise in schools
  • Teachers' death statistics being the tip of an iceberg
  • Iceberg being childrens' deaths which are not assessed
  • Asbestos Consultants' repeat offer to inspect 100 schools is accepted

MPs attending say that something must be done and Committee agree to speak to Minister again.

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.Update 2 February 2009. Includes:

BBC investigation into school asbestos management (video)

  • HSE reaction to BBC report and an analysis of the flaws based on referenced confidential documents
  • Lessons for schools

Parliamentary Asbestos sub-committee consider repeated calls over many years for:

  • national audit of asbestos in schools
  • undertaking a risk assessment of asbestos in schools, particularly for children
  • reinstating a campaign to improve asbestos management in schools.

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28th January 2009 - BBC Inside Out broadcast a report on asbestos in schools in the South East. The lessons learnt here apply to many schools in the country. There is detailed comment on the programme here and you can see the 13 minute video.

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3rd February 2009 - a meeting of the Parliamentary asbestos sub-committee where the Liberal Democrats Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions, the Teaching unions, the medical profession and others will join the Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Safety and Health in his call for the Government to undertake:

  • A national audit of asbestos in the Nation’s school.
  • A risk assessment with particular emphasis on the risks to children.
  • Reinstate the campaign to improve the asbestos management in schools.
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14th November 2008 - ITN’s Teachers TV broadcast a news report on asbestos in schools. The report focuses on the widespread calls for the reinstatement of a campaign to improve the asbestos management in schools, the need for a national audit of asbestos in schools and the need for an assessment to be made of the risk to staff and children. The calls are from the teaching unions, MPs, asbestos consultants, surveyors, doctors, occupational hygienists, solicitors, mesothelioma research organisations, mesothelioma support groups, teachers, parents and individuals.

As licensing constraints prevent the showing of the videos for more than 28 days the following summaries cover many of the main points:

A transcript of the report.
An analysis of statements made by the HSE using confidential documents that show that cost is the reason the Government has never carried out an audit or risk assessment of asbestos in schools. A chronological list of calls for an audit with the source and the results.

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14 Nov 2008 - Letter in the Times A letter from the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Health and Safety, the medical profession and asbestos specialists requests action on asbestos in schools.

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30 Oct 2008 - BBC Today report on asbestos in schools and other public buildings and an interview with the chest consultant John Edwards.

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July 2008 - Asbestos Testing and Consultancy Association professional development seminar. It identified failings in school asbestos management survey, procedures, training and standards.

It was attended by asbestos surveyors, consultants, analysts and contractors, Chairman of the UK Asbestos Training Association, the Manager of the UK Accreditation Service, specialist scientists, local authority safety officers, solicitors, Teachers Unions and HSE Head of Asbestos Policy.

Michael Lees presented. His notes (updated Jan 09) are attached.

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.Friday 15 February 2008 ITN News reported on the discovery of asbestos in a System Built School and raised the possibility of the same problem affecting many other schools. This paper has guidance on asbestos precautions in these schools based on best practice. It has been written in consultation with experienced asbestos consultants.

 

 

Michael Lees
ml@asbestosexposureschools.co.uk