Asbestos in schools

Education unions have continued to campaign for action on asbestos in schools. According to HSE figures, 128 school teachers died from the asbestos-related lung cancer mesothelioma between 2002 and 2010, and the campaign group, Asbestos in Schools, says that this figure underestimates the true scale of mesothelioma deaths among teachers as it does not include those aged 75 years old and over. Asbestos is estimated to be present in as many as half a million non-domestic buildings, including three quarters of schools.

The Joint Union Asbestos Committee (JUAC) has called on the government to follow the lead of the Welsh Assembly and order a national audit of asbestos in UK schools. In Wales this was prompted by the unexpected closure of Cwmcarn High School in Caerphilly because of concerns about the safety of asbestos in its buildings. The JUAC says the government should allocate sufficient resources, target the schools most at risk and put into place a phased removal of all asbestos from UK schools and colleges.

In 2013, the Department for Education published new online asbestos management guidance for UK schools and colleges. This is available on its website at: www.education.gov.uk/b00215518/asbestosmanagementschool. In March 2014, Annette Brooke MP, chair of the Asbestos in Schools Group, tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) on Asbestos Management in Schools. The EDM comes as the Department for Education is reviewing its policy on management of asbestos in schools. The review follows a public consultation which ran between 31 January and 31 March 2014.