British Safety Council insists on asbestos removal in schools
At a conference that was organized by the Centre for Corporate Accountability, Brian Nimick of the British Safety Council called for a national audit of asbestos in UK schools as well as a program to manage and remove the toxic substance. Nimick said that it is unacceptable that this has not happened already.
In the last 14 years, Nimick said that there have been 228 asbestos-related deaths among UK teachers, an average of 16 per year. It is estimated that over 4,000 people will die this year from asbestos exposure in the workplace, he stated, making asbestos the greatest single cause of work-related deaths in the United Kingdom. He asked for school headmasters and Governors to consider whether or not they’d allow their own family members to attend schools or universities which had not been assessed for asbestos risk.
A spokeswoman from the Department of Children, Schools and Families stated that the health and welfare of students and staff are important. She said that her department and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) need to monitor and continually assess asbestos in schools, and that local authorities and school employers must fully comply. Her department is conducting the first ever survey of every local authority to assess their asbestos management; the HSE will be following up.
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