The Government is awaiting the results of an independent advisory committee on the extent to which children are at risk from exposure to asbestos fibres.

Asbestos Awareness

They will await the results before reviewing the policy on how schools should manage asbestos.

Nick Gibb, Education Minister, tried to reassure MPs during an Adjournment debate in the House of Commons, on the 7^th of February that the Government is taking the issue of asbestos in schools very seriously.

They stressed that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recommends that asbestos containing material should not be removed, if it is not damaged, but rather managed.

Nick Gibb was responding to the report which was published last week by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health. The report called for many things, the main one being the removal of asbestos in schools in order to protect the occupants from the potentially dangerous effects.

Labour MP Ian Lavery, secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary group challenged Mr. Gibb saying that:

“Exposure to asbestos in schools is endangering the lives of tens of thousands of schoolchildren and teachers, many of whom are completely unaware of their daily exposure.”He went onto say:

“Even the most common of classroom activities can release dangerous fibres. That can be something as simple as slamming the door five times, which could release levels of amosite fibres more than 600 times greater than outdoor levels. That action routinely occurs in Britain’s schools on a daily basis. There are even simpler reasons for fibre release in classrooms, such as placing drawing pins in the wall and removing books from the book shelf.”

Mr. Gibb responded by saying that the HSE have given clear advice on the matter:

“If the Control of Asbestos Regulations are followed and asbestos surveys and management plans are put into effect, with periodic checks on the condition of any asbestos, the expert advice is that this will result in no significant exposure to asbestos.”

However, the Education minister promised that he would review the policy once the results of the work carried out by the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment examine the vulnerability of children to the exposure of asbestos.

He said:

“This will be the first such assessment, as previous assessments have been for adults exposed to high exposure levels. We will review our policy on asbestos management and our advice to schools when we receive the committee’s report later this year.”

The report’s call for a national register of asbestos surveys of the public buildings in England and Wales was rejected by Mr. Gibb on the grounds of if resulting in, “the unnecessary duplication of the records that local authorities and other employers are required by law to keep”.

It was also said that the Government encourages a policy of openness in regards to informing parents and school staff about the presence of asbestos and how it is managed however, the decision on what information to share is down to the duty-holder.

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