NUT calls for action on asbestos in schools
Published on Thu 21 Jun 2007
The National Union of Teachers has issued a circular calling for the removal of asbestos in all schools, reports the Trades Union Congress Risks Newsletter.
The circular was issued after Derby City Council was prosecuted for exposing staff and teachers to asbestos at a school in Mickleover.
The message is that asbestos should be completely removed rather than simply contained and managed:
'Even the best management plans are subject to human fallibility. They may not be consulted, acted upon or updated. They may remain on a shelf in a head teacher's office. There may not be anyone within the local authority who actually monitors that the system is working. For all these reasons, therefore, removal is the best option.'
The NUT see the Government's school building initiative 'Building Schools for the Future' as 'an opportunity to remove asbestos which must not be wasted.' The circular points out that,
'Many local authorities will not be benefiting from the BSF programme for many years and it is important that progress is made in these schools too.' It adds 'the NUT would urge its health and safety advisers to include making progress on asbestos removal a priority for their 2007 work.
There has been growing concern about the presence of asbestos in schools and in September 2006 the family of a former schoolteacher was awarded compensation after asbestos was implicated in his death. In April 2007 the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers issued the results of a survey showing that asbestos was not being properly managed while the Health and Safety Executive has recently published additional guidance.
Tags: asbestos, risk assessment, survey, HSE, schools, nut
