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Posts Tagged ‘Asbestos in Schools’
Pupils and staff returned to Flora Stevenson Primary School this morning after an asbestos scare.
The school was shut down on Thursday last week with all pupils evacuated to nearby Broughton High School after it was discovered the substance had been disturbed by workmen.
The council said tests had shown the school was safe and a full cleaning took place over the weekend.
On Friday, the Evening News told how parents were “horrified” by the possibility their children might have been exposed to the asbestos, which was disturbed “out of hours”.
They were informed the pupils were being moved out of the school just after 11am on Thursday morning – around two hours after lessons began.
A South Yorkshire primary school has been forced to close for emergency asbestos works.
Children at Whiston Junior and Infant School in Rotherham were sent home from school and will now be taught at different venues, including Magna Science and Adventure Centre and another nearby primary school, until the Easter holidays.
Some traces of asbestos were found in the building before the school building was due to be refurbished.
Headteacher Jackie Williams said last night:
“Clearly we do not take the decision to close the school lightly, but the safety and well-being of staff, pupils and visitors is always our first priority so we have taken this precautionary step while work is completed.”
She went onto say:
“Initial tests that have been carried out do not indicate any health risks and further tests and work will be completed to ensure that the refurbishment work can continue safely for all concerned.”
A concerned parent is demanding answers after asbestos was found at St Martin’s Primary School in Dorking during half term.
Surrey County Council (SCC) says it knew some asbestos was present prior to recent work to build two classrooms and a playground, but more was found while improvement work was being carried out in the main building. SCC conducted thorough safety checks and found no health risk.
One parent, who did not want to be named, said: “I was at the school when the discovery was made. Parts of the building were on lockdown and tents were put up to block off areas.
“We then received an e-mail from the head teacher on Sunday night saying that everything was fine, which I just found hard to believe.
“There was no explanation as to the condition of the building, what precautions had been put in place and no advice to parents, so we are all very concerned.
“It doesn’t seem right.”
The school reopened as normal on Monday following the half-term break.
The concerned parent told the Advertiser she has spoken to other people whose children attend the school, and many expressed concern.
Asbestos has been found in almost 200 schools in the Bristol area.
MPs and peers branded the presence of the potentially lethal material as a “time bomb in our schools”, earlier this month. They then called for a scheme for the removal of asbestos.
Bristol City Council has said that asbestos is present in about 50 of the city’s state primary schools and two secondary schools; however it seems unlikely that it will be removed due to the costs.
A total of 81 schools in South Gloucestershire have asbestos in the fabric of their buildings. In North Somerset asbestos is present in 52 of the 67 primary schools and 8 of the 10 secondary schools.
All the buildings were audited by the council in 2009 and 2010 implementing annual re-inspections.
A report was released by the Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health earlier this month, calling for regular updates about asbestos for parents, teachers and staff. They also called for asbestos to be removed from all schools.
The city council has said that the two secondary schools in the city have “some level of asbestos” and the primary schools have “varying degrees of asbestos”. Most schools seem to have low levels of asbestos.
There are hundreds of schools across the UK which are riddled with potentially dangerous asbestos, however, County Hall say that staff and pupils have nothing to worry about.
Lancashire is one of the only minority areas which have their own specialist asbestos squad whom are regularly inspecting and checking for problems.
An All-Party Parliamentary group on “Asbestos in Schools – the need for action” have called for a six-point action plan in order to safeguard staff and children.
Calling on the Government to set up a programme for the removal of asbestos from all schools, it already has the support of the GMB which has a large membership in schools.
The latest figures show that all the identified “high risk” asbestos in Lancashire schools have been dealt with, however, there are currently 500 schools with at least one indentified “low incidence” case, including 81 in Preston and 53 in South Ribble.
Lancashire County Council’s director for resources and planning for children and young people, Mike Hart said:
“Where asbestos occurs in the county’s schools, it is inspected regularly and does not represent any threat to staff, children or young people.”
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 7th 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.”
This report, from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health, exposes the level of danger from asbestos in Britain’s schools, and makes a compelling case for urgent action. It not only outlines the problem but makes six clear and simple recommendations on how future asbestos exposure in schools can be prevented.
Published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Health and Safety the report makes six clear recommendations:
Report Recommendations
The All-Party Group recommends that:
- The Government should set a programme for the phased removal of asbestos from all schools, with priority being given to those schools where the asbestos is considered to be most dangerous or damaged.
- Standards in asbestos training should be set and the training should be mandatory. The training should be properly funded.
- It is recommended that the DfE and HSE jointly develop asbestos guidance specifically for schools and that current standards be reviewed.
- A policy of openness should be adopted. Parents, teachers and support staff should be annually updated on the presence of asbestos in their schools and the measures that are being taken to manage it.
- Pro-active inspections to determine the standards of asbestos management should be reinstated, with a view to reducing future costs.
- Data should be collected centrally on the extent, type and condition of asbestos in schools and this becomes an integral part of the data collection of the condition of the nation’s schools.
An all-party group is calling for a scheme to remove asbestos from schools.
MPs and peers have said that the presence of asbestos in most UK state schools constitutes a “national scandal”.
After studying estimates which suggest the material was present in more than 75% of state schools, an all-party group now wants to implement a scheme to remove the asbestos.
In the past 10 years more than a 140 teachers have died from the asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma, which is primarily caused by exposure to asbestos.
Education chiefs are saying that it is unacceptable for schools to ignore guidance but that undamaged asbestos should not be disturbed.
In 2010 the Department for Education (DfE) revealed that its “best estimate” was that more than three-quarters of schools contain asbestos.
Chairman for the Parliamentary group on Occupational Safety and Health, Jim Sheridan said:
“This is a national scandal.”
“Urgent action is needed to prevent more pupils, teachers and other staff being exposed to this deadly killer dust.
He went onto say:
“We need both far greater awareness of the risks that this material poses and a programme for its phased removal.”
Asbestos, the workplace killer, has been a around for years and the danger of it has also been known.
In 1985 it came about that the use of blue and brown asbestos was no longer allowed, and the two type of asbestos was banned. It was only white asbestos which was allowed to be used until 1999; it then received the same treatment as the other types of asbestos.
Unfortunately, asbestos has caused numerous for many years now, the main deaths being caused by mesothelioma or asbestosis.
In 2011 the Supreme Court heard that Diana Williams had been negligently exposed to asbestos at school which led to her tragic death from mesothelioma in 2009. The court accepted evidence in which is said there was no safe level of exposure to asbestos.
Despite this, a report by The Independent on Sunday has shown that in the forthcoming audit of our 23,000 school buildings around the country, an investigation to determine the use of asbestos and also the risks it may pose is not going to take place.
Shops, offices and schools are just some of the workplaces in the services sector where asbestos could be present. But how do such organisations ensure they have the controls in place to safely manage this potentially deadly substance and, at the same time, remain open for business? Sadie Hopson explains.
In our fast-paced culture, time is money. As such, no organisation will entertain lightly the prospect of suspending their daily operations for any reason. Yet, shutting up shop has become a reality for various organisations over recent months; from schools to retail outlets, several different establishments have been forced to close their doors after asbestos has been discovered on their premises.
Not only does such a situation impact on business, but the health implications and negative publicity can, potentially, be extremely costly. Events such as these most commonly occur on account of a failure to invest in a stringent asbestos management plan, which is specific to the organisation.
It is estimated that 500,000 commercial, industrial and public buildings in the UK contain asbestos.1 Trade associations, professional bodies and regulators are driving forward various initiatives to increase awareness among the relevant parties and duty-holders, but beyond the surveys and asbestos registers, action needs to be effectual at an operational level.
System breakdown
With more awareness campaigns and informed professionals spreading the word, the majority of duty-holders are aware of their obligations to manage asbestos in their premises. Yet, businesses large and small are still making alarming mistakes when it comes to health and safety, often failing to implement documented procedures effectively.
In September 2011, the prosecution of Marks and Spencer over a failure to protect customers, staff and workers from potential exposure to asbestos during refurbishment at one of its stores attracted wide press attention. The high-street retailer was fined
£1 million after a three-month trial, and the hefty size of the fine is indicative of the scale of the health and safety breach.2
Such a turn of events shows how easy it is for there to be a breakdown in the system – in this case, resulting in ceiling dust, possibly containing asbestos, falling on the floor of the store. With such huge potential risks at stake, it is vital that every step is taken to reduce the hazards in question. The information identified in an asbestos management plan and the surveys undertaken must be used as a driver for proactive prevention, as this forms the foundation for effective asbestos management.
Charges have been brought against Staffordshire County Council after dangerous asbestos fibres were released into a primary school.
The alert, believed to have been sparked when contractors dismantling a cupboard accidentally disturbed the fibres, shut Glenthorne Primary in Cheslyn Hay for four months and cost taxpayers £246,000. Other parts of the building were also affected.
The authority had been due to answer health and safety charges at Cannock Magistrates Court yesterday but the case was postponed at the last minute.
A national asbestos trade union campaign group urges the Government to put the health of children and school staff first, and abandon its plans to make the governors of all state-funded schools responsible for the health and safety of their pupils and staff, which will happen if it transfers the responsibility from local authorities to school governors.
The Joint Union Asbestos Committee* (JUAC) said that a recent judgement against the University of Lincoln, which exposed staff to asbestos fibres, indicated how easily things can go wrong if asbestos is not properly managed in educational institutions. It underlines how important it is that the Government does not transfer responsibility away from local authorities who have the specialist knowledge and resources to help local authority schools safely maintain their asbestos.
A PIECE of Island education history has finally bitten the dust.
A demolition crew has put the finishing touches to the site of Ventnor Middle School, in preparation for construction work to begin on a new school.
The old 1950s’ Ventnor Middle School has been demolished and the Isle of Wight Council says work is on track for the new St Francis Primary School to be open from January, 2013.
The new £6 million school is being built on the footprint of the old one, after receiving unanimous approval of the council’s planning committee.
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