Asbestos in schools: thousands at risk

Nearly 700 state schools have been referred to the HSE by the Department for Education for potentially failing to safely manage asbestos in their buildings, putting thousands of pupils and staff at risk.

According to the National Union of Teachers, 319 teachers have died from mesothelioma since 1980. The Daily Telegraph says “it is estimated that for every teacher’s death, nine children will die, meaning over 100 people will die every year in the UK as a result of exposure when they were at school”.

What is asbestos?

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Asbestos, a naturally occurring fibrous mineral, was widely used in the UK as insulation and a fire retardant up until the 1970s. Questions had been raised over its health impact since the early 20th century, but the import and use of blue and brown asbestos was not banned until 1985, while white asbestos, thought to be less dangerous, was banned in 1999.

Asbestos-containing materials are harmless if properly managed, as the deadly fibres are only released if the material is disturbed.

According to newly released figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), deaths from mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the organs caused almost exclusively by the inhalation of asbestos fibres, have soared from just a few hundred in the 1970s to 2,523 in 2017. The UK, along with Australia, now has the highest mesothelioma rates in the world.

Trade union bosses branded the numbers “shocking” and warned that cash-strapped investigators might not be able to fully probe all the reported cases, reports The Sun.

Why are so many people dying now?

“Asbestos-related cancers can occur as many as 50 years after exposure and deaths are now thought to be reaching their peak,” The Guardian reports.

Roger Maddocks of Irwin Mitchell LLP, a law firms that specialises in workplace injuries and illness, claims that “in many cases, people are now paying the price for criminal failings by industry and the government” across decades.