A warning to teachers has been issued by unions in the North of England stating that the pinning of children's work on boards which may contain asbestos, could cause fatal asbestos cancers.
Eight school staff are currently seeking compensation following contracting asbestos-related cancers, with many other claims having already been settled.
Owing to the period of time before asbestos cancers take their toll, teaching unions fear many more teachers will be affected in coming years.
Figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that between 1991 and 2000, 147 people working in education died from the fatal asbestos-related disease mesothelioma.
Regional Secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) Elaine Kay said:
"Every school should have an asbestos plan which says where it is and what's been done to seal it and render it safe.
"Everybody in the school should have information so teachers don't go sticking pins in it.
"It's when that information falls short that it becomes a serious risk, which is unacceptable because teachers stick pins in the wall all the time, as do children."
National Executive Member for the Teaching Union in the North East NASUWT, Mick Lyons, said:
"Most of our schools are held together by asbestos because they were built in the 1960s when there wasn't the knowledge of what it can do.
"I know of people drilling through walls to put in a telephone cable and disturbing asbestos. A school in Durham put in a whiteboard but forgot to mention that the ceiling panels were made of asbestos.
"Nowadays, most local authorities know where it is and schools have asbestos plans, but we're looking at a time-bomb from the sixties, seventies and eighties when it wasn't so well known."
Safety representatives are being urged to help by checking the following:
- Demand a copy of the school or college’s asbestos policy, which should include details of where asbestos is located and the steps that have been taken to monitor the position.
- Check that your employer, by virtue of regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002, knows whether your premises contain asbestos.
- Check where asbestos is located.
- Check the condition of the asbestos.
- Make sure your employer complies with regulation by ensuring the asbestos is managed effectively.
- Employers should also make sure that employees are fully informed so staff are not at risk of disturbing asbestos.
An updated Guidance, produced by the HSE, "Asbestos: an important message for schools", can be accessed, in pdf format, by clicking the following:
Asbestos: An important message for schools
Further updated information on asbestos in schools, can be accessed from the HSE Webpage, by clicking the following:
HSE -Asbestos - updated information for schools
Article by Alexandra Johnston
