In the Government report entitled ‘Asbestos in Schools – The need for action’, the report noted that of the 3,600 schools in Britain, more than 75% contain asbestos with much of this asbestos being badly maintained. This means that teachers and children across Britain may be being exposed to dangerous asbestos fibres.
Asbestos Fibres From Heaters
In October 2012, the issue came to the fore again when nine hundred staff and pupils were sent home early from a school in Wales after an asbestos report found damaged asbestos insulating board (AIB) panels in the classrooms and widespread AIB debris in the ceiling void. Tests found that there were raised fibre levels in classrooms and the stairwell and that the classroom cabinet heaters were emitting fibres.
It has been noted that fan heaters in classrooms operate by sucking air in and passing it over heating elements, once heated the air is emitted into rooms through grilles. The fans and heating elements can be contained within a box which is commonly lined with AIB. This form of heating was developed in the 1950’s and became a popular way of heating schools.
It has been reported that the issue of asbestos fibre release from this form of heating has been known about since 1981. A local authority took samples from a number of schools and found amosite (brown asbestos) fibres were being released and that levels of these fibres were up to 60,000 fibres per cubic metre of air. To put this into context, it has been reported that a child inhales on average 20 cubic metres of air per day.
The ‘Asbestos in Schools – The need for action’ report states that more than 228 teachers have died of mesothelioma with 140 dying in the last ten years. Furthermore, an unknown number of cleaners, admin staff and caretakers have also died from the condition. These are shocking figures when one would expect in a profession such as this, there to be little to no exposure to asbestos.
Pursuing a claim for mesothelioma, or any other asbestos related disease can be difficult and complex, hence the need to instruct a solicitor with experience in handling such claims.
How Nelsons Can Help
If you have any questions in relation to the topics discussed in this article, please contact our expert Personal Injury team in Derby, Leicester and Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.