Asbestos was widely used in the construction of schools particularly during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The asbestos has been damaged over the years through fair wear and tear, accidental damage, maintenance work and vandalism, consequently fibres have been released. Much of that asbestos remains in place to this day.
Asbestos was used in school workshops and laboratories.
Asbestos was used in school laboratories, workshops and domestic science classes. Amongst other applications, this was in the form of bunsen burner stands, wool, cement sheeting, ironing boards, gloves and fire-blankets, all of which were either heated, manhandled, cut or abraded. This would have released asbestos fibres.
Statistics show an unexpectedly high death rate among teachers from mesothelioma.
HSE statistics show that there are an unexpectedly high number of deaths in the teaching profession from mesothelioma. HSE statistics list mesothelioma deaths under 200 occupations which show that between 1980 and 2000 female school teachers had the fourth highest number of deaths from mesothelioma. Female teachers had the fourth highest Proportional Mortality Ratio (PMR) because of their number of deaths from mesothelioma. The only occupations with a higher PMR were Foremen/Labourers, Textile workers and Sewers/Embroiderers.
In a profession where there should be little or no asbestos exposure, teachers have been exposed to significant levels of asbestos.
In the teaching profession one should expect little or no asbestos exposure, and the PMRs and the number of deaths from mesothelioma should reflect the fact, however the opposite is so. The number of deaths and the high PMRs amongst teachers demonstrates that they have been exposed to significant quantities of asbestos, with the consequence that they are dying from asbestos related cancers.
Female teachers’ Proportional Mortality Ratio twice that of nurses.
Among female occupations one would consider that nursing and teaching should be comparable in the context of asbestos exposure. However, although the number of deaths in each group is on par, the teacher’s PMR is twice as high. It can therefore only be concluded that female teachers have been exposed to considerably more asbestos than female nurses have.
Significant deaths among male teachers.
The numbers of mesothelioma deaths amongst male teachers is also significant.
It must therefore be concluded that both male and female teachers have been exposed to significant quantities of asbestos.
Children exposed to asbestos.
Children are particularly vulnerable to asbestos exposure. The HSE will not give an estimate of how many children have, and will, die from mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure at school. However if teachers are being exposed and dying then so are their pupils. Any subsequent deaths among the pupils will happen once they have left school and the statistics will record the death under their final occupation and not as the result of asbestos exposures that first occurred
And here's some interesting points and stats from HSE sources:
A High proportion of our present schools contain asbestos.
In 2004 the HSE gave an idea of the extent of asbestos in schools:
Of the approximate 20,400 primary schools and 3,400 secondary schools in the UK, some 13,000 were built between 1945 and 1974, when the use of ACMs (Asbestos Containing Materials) in building was at its peak. Many other school premises would have been refurbished during or since that period, providing the potential for the introduction of ACMs e.g. lagging, ceiling panels, partition walls, sprayed coatings.
This suggests that a high proportion of our present schools contain asbestos and represent the potential to release deadly fibres.
Much of that asbestos remains to this day. All types of asbestos were used in a huge variety of applications; for walls, ceilings, suspended floors, acoustic insulation/ attenuation, fire insulation, loft insulation, damp insulation, storage heaters, pipe/boiler lagging, roofs, window sills, guttering, floor tiles, doors, blackboards, banisters and sanitary-ware amongst many other applications.
By 1976 approximately 5,000,000 tons of asbestos had been imported into the United Kingdom. There are three types of asbestos that have been used commercially, crocidolite, amosite and chrysotile, all of them have been used in schools.
Given the connection between the ghastly Mesothelioma disease and asbestos, what parent wouldn't want to know if their child's school contained the deadly substance? Well, don't expect many head teachers or board of governors to know, because few fully realise their school's vulnerability ~ but, surely, proper training, competence and a complete understanding simply MUST be an essential part of the working knowledge of every Head Teacher and School Site Manager across the land ???
Since 1967 at least, successive governments and official bodies have simply ignored the problem. It is a common perception is that asbestos usage tailed off after the Sixties. But, in fact, insurers Norwich Union point out: 'The peak year of asbestos imports into the UK was 1973.' They estimate that 'six million metric tonnes of asbestos have been imported into the UK, much of it is still in place in homes, schools, hospitals and workplaces'.
Nearly half the schools still in service were built in the post-war years, using asbestos as a basic building material - for insulation, walls and ceilings or for outbuildings.
Older schools also have significant amounts of asbestos due to rebuilding, modernising, pipe-lagging and insulation work. What is so astounding about this is that we've known about the risks of asbestos for decades - and our children have still been knowingly exposed.
As early as 1931, the Government recognised asbestos as a potentially dangerous material, imposing basic safety regulations. Later in 1955, the leading British epidemiologist Dr Richard Doll published evidence linking asbestos with lung cancer.
Then, in 1965 a Factories Inspectorate report of claimed: 'Mesothelioma has been shown to be associated in some cases with exposure to asbestos dating back 20 years or more previously and sometimes of astonishingly slight degree.' In 1967 roughly two years later, the head of the Medical Inspectorate of Factories, Dr T. Lloyd Davies, wrote to the Department of Education that 'no one can deny there is an association between mesothelioma and asbestos.
No one knows the "dose" required to produce mesothelioma in later years, but it might be small. The more I see of asbestos, the more I dislike it.' Evidence linking asbestos and mesothelioma continued to emerge, but it wasn't until 1976 that the Department of Education (as it then was) at last issued a guideline.
After noting that in certain conditions 'asbestos is friable' (i.e. has the ability to fray), it advised: 'It must be remembered that the health hazard arises only from the inhalation of asbestos fibres and therefore the sealing of asbestos products. . . is equally effective and in some cases more appropriate... than replacement or removal.'
Ten years later, in 1986 - 20 years after Dr Lloyd Davies's warning - the Department of Education issued a further guideline. Although there have been two updates, it remains the Government's defining statement on asbestos in our schools.
'If the asbestos material is sound and undamaged, it may be left in place and a management system should be introduced to keep its condition under review.'
In the same year, laws were passed in the U.S. encouraging schools to seek out asbestos and funds were provided to remove it.
What the official statement ignores is that any number of things can make asbestos fray - vermin, water leaks, ageing, disturbing the site through maintenance or repair, making holes in it and even simply hitting or indenting it - allowing potentially lethal fibres into the air.
Just as shocking is that the Government doesn't know how much asbestos is our schools.
Michael Lees's whose wife, a primary school teacher, sadly died from mesothelioma in 2000. wrote in his report 'I was amazed to discover there is no centrally collated audit of the full extent and condition of asbestos in the country's schools,'
'Consequently, many schools are unaware of the extent and condition of their asbestos.'
In 1994, the Department of the Environment found asbestos in its headquarters. Though the building was due for demolition just two years later, the asbestos was removed at a cost of £1million ~ where’s the balance eh?
In the same year, the Under Secretary of State for schools, Eric Forth, wrote to the National Union of Teachers declaring: 'I am afraid I cannot agree with the NUT's suggestion that local authorities should be required to carry out an audit of asbestos in school buildings.'
so, who will protect our children?
Ed.
