JUAC WELCOMES NEWS THAT HSE
WILL PUBLISH ITS WRITTEN REPORT
INTO CWMCARN HIGH SCHOOL
In October 2012 asbestos fibres were found in warm air cabinet heaters in Cwmcarn High School, Caerphilly, and, in subsequent tests, carried out by HSE appointed experts, it was found that asbestos fibres were being released from the schools heaters into the classrooms.
The school was closed in October 2012.
On 13 March 2013 David Ashton, a senior director of HSE, gave evidence to the Education Select Committee that the school was perfectly safe and HSE have publicly stated that the school is essentially uncontaminated.
Two further asbestos consultancy firms and an independent assessor have confirmed that it is unsafe to reopen the school until extensive asbestos remedial work has been completed.
On 17 April Caerphilly Council took the decision to spend £1 million on the removal of asbestos.
On 24 April the Schools Minister David Laws MP confirmed in a written parliamentary answer that:
The HSE had recently concluded its investigation into the asbestos related incident at Cwmcarn High School in Wales and wrote to the Governors and local authority with its findings on 26 February.
The HSE investigation concluded that there are appropriate asbestos management arrangements in place at the school as required under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and that no enforcement action is required.
On 7 May the HSE refused a Freedom of Information request made by the Asbestos in Schools Group to provide the HSE final report into their investigation on the grounds that:
The incident is currently under investigation and action arising from the above has not yet been completed.
This is entirely contradictory to the statement made by David Laws on 24 April and has added to the confusion and lack of information for those directly affected by this incident.
Consequently JUAC wrote on 8 May to David Laws requiring the publication of the HSE investigation report and calling for transparency to ensure that the right message was sent to schools about the standards of asbestos management.
JUAC welcomes the news received 23 May from David Bryant on behalf of HSE that The report is still being finalised and once complete will be shared with the duty holders, in this case, the school and the local authority. This is standard practice before any consideration of wider dissemination of the findings of an investigation. While HSE does not routinely publish investigation reports, on this occasion HSE believes there is merit in sharing the findings more widely. Once the report has been provided to the duty holders we will be giving consideration on how best to do that.
JUAC will continue to campaign for a national audit of the extent, type and condition of asbestos inUKschools and for a risk assessment of the standards of asbestos management. Only then can the UK Government allocate proportionate resources and target those schools most at risk. JUACs long-term aim is the phased removal of all asbestos fromUKschools and colleges.
JUAC Chair Julie Winn said: Whilst we were disappointed to learn that the publication of the long awaited final statement from the Committee on Carcinogenicity on the issue of the relative vulnerability of children to asbestos has been postponed from to 7th June, we were pleased to receive confirmation that the HSEs written report into the issue of asbestos management at Cwmcarn High School will now be made public. We remain firmly of the view that an independent review is long overdue.
Over 75 per cent of Britains state schools contain asbestos, according to the Asbestos in Schools: the need for action report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health. More than 140 school teachers have died from mesothelioma (a cancer that is almost exclusively caused by exposure to asbestos) in the past ten years. An unknown number of cleaners, administrative staff, caretakers, cooks and dinner time supervisors have also died. It is also unknown how many children have been killed by exposure to asbestos at school, but in theUS it was estimated that for every one teacher who dies, nine former pupils will die in adulthood from their exposure as a child. In theUK that would mean that more than 100 people are dying every year as a result of asbestos exposure when they were at school.
*JUAC is a trade union campaigning committee comprising the six main education unions: Association of School and College Leaders; Association of Teachers and Lecturers; National Association of Head Teachers; NASUWT; National Union of Teachers; Voice; plus the education sections of Unite, UNISON, UCATT and the GMB: www.juac.org.uk.
The Group has the objective of making allUKschools and colleges safe from the dangers of asbestos. All the unions in JUAC are members of the Asbestos in Schools (AIS) campaign.
For more information please contact
Julie Winn
Chair JUAC
Tel:01132 231400
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Asbestos danger in classroom heaters
By Michael Lees, Asbestos in Schools campaign
On 12 October 2012, Caerphilly Council received a report from a firm of asbestos consultants aboutCwmcarnHigh School. It immediately closed the school and moved the staff and pupils to another school at the cost of £1.4 million.
The report identified damaged and unsealed asbestos insulating board (AIB) and widespread asbestos contamination in the ceiling voids. Airborne fibre levels were raised and amosite (brown asbestos) fibres were identified in the dust in four classrooms and the stairwell.
The classrooms are heated by warm air cabinet heating. Fans suck air in, pass it over heating elements and blow it out into the rooms. The mechanism is contained in a large cabinet that typically can be lined with AIB panels. At Cwmcarn some of the AIB panels were unsealed or damaged and in one there was asbestos debris. Raised fibre levels were found when the heaters were running.
Warm air cabinet heating was introduced in the 1950s and became one of the most popular forms of heating schools. In 1981, tests showed that heaters can blow asbestos fibres into classrooms, particularly if the AIB is damaged. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issued a warning to all local authorities, advising them to clean dust from the cabinets, while wearing protective clothing and masks, and then either to remove the AIB panels or to seal them. Despite the warnings, some thirty years later atCwmcarnSchoolthis had not been done.
Other schools should therefore be urgently alerted to the dangers inherent in these heaters.
Asbestos audit
Following the closure of Cwmcarn, Welsh Education Minister Leighton Andrews instructed local authorities inWalesto provide reports on the status of asbestos in their schools.
In contrast, on the same day, the Schools Minister in England, David Laws, answered a Parliamentary written question about schools with: A national audit of asbestos is unnecessary.
On 27 November, Leighton Andrews issued a Written Statement on Asbestos in Schools. The key paragraph is:
I do not feel sufficiently assured at this stage that local authorities are discharging their statutory duties to manage asbestos and have sufficient plans in place. I intend to ask local authorities that they ensure that Head Teachers and Governing Bodies know and understand their obligations and duties in relation to legal requirements and that they are following guidance where provided, and that they have reviewed the relevant insurance arrangements in their school.
Committee on Carcinogenicity
At the February Parliamentary debate,Nick Gibb MPstated that the Government would review its policy of asbestos management in schools once it received the Committee on Carcinogenicitys report. For more than a year the committee has been assessing the relative vulnerability of children to asbestos. They had planned to publish their report after their meeting in November, however there were a number of criticisms about their draft statement so it will be extensively redrafted, which will delay publication.
Failure to manage
The failure ofCwmcarnSchoolto manage its asbestos safely should have been discovered long ago, but it was not. The situation will only get worse as the UK Government has cancelled proactive HSE inspections of asbestos management in local authority schools, although next year they will inspect 150 schools outside local authority control. However that represents just 0.5% of all schools.
The Welsh Governments review has shown that some schools are not achieving satisfactory standards and therefore it underlines the necessity for the re-introduction of pro-active inspections.
The lack of a proper system to determine if schools are safely managing their asbestos and the Ministers dismissal of a national audit of asbestos in schools demonstrate that a review of Government policy is urgently required.
Further information
Asbestos in Schools (AiS): www.asbestosexposureschools.co.uk
Joint Union Asbestos Committee (JUAC): www.juac.org.uk
Campaign news, Asbestos Management Guidance for Schools (DfE) and statement from Leighton Andrews: www.voicetheunion.org.uk/asbestos
See page 11 Q&A
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JUAC backs parliamentary groups asbestos action report
The Joint Union Asbestos Committee (JUAC)*, a national asbestos trade union campaign group, has backed Asbestos in Schools: the need for action, a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health that highlights the level of danger from asbestos in Britains schools.
The report shows that more than 75 per cent of Britains state schools contain asbestos. Much of that is badly maintained, meaning that children and staff are exposed to this killer fibre. Over 140 school teachers have died from mesothelioma (a cancer that is almost exclusively caused by exposure to asbestos) in the past ten years. An unknown number of cleaners, administrative staff, caretakers, cooks and diner ladies have also died.
The report confirms that the number of children who might die as adult as a result of exposure to asbestos while at school is unknown; but in the US it was estimated that for every teachers death nine people will die from their exposure as a child, but because of the very long latency their deaths will be many years later as adults. That would mean that over 100 people die every year in the UK as a result of exposure when they were at school.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health report highlights the case for urgent action. It not only outlines the problem but makes six clear and simple recommendations about how we can prevent future exposure in our schools.
Jim Sheridan MP, Chair of the All-Party Group said: This is a national scandal. Urgent action is needed to prevent more pupils, teachers and other staff being exposed to this deadly killer dust. We need both far greater awareness of the risks that this material poses and a programme for its phased removal.
Michael Lees, founder of the Asbestos in Schools Group (AIS), said: This report highlights the continuing threat from asbestos in schools. It is essential and imperative that the Government undertakes an urgent audit of asbestos in schools, provides training for schools on how to manage it safely and draws up a programme for its phased removal.
Notes for Editors:
*JUAC is a trade union campaigning committee comprising the six main education unions: Association of School and College Leaders; Association of Teachers and Lecturers; National Association of Head Teachers; NASUWT; National Union of Teachers; Voice; plus the education sections of Unite, UNISON, UCATT and the GMB: http://www.juac.org.uk. The Group has the objective of making all UK schools and colleges safe from the dangers of asbestos. All the unions in JUAC are members of the Asbestos in Schools (AIS) campaign.
AIS is a campaigning and pressure non-party political group of organisations and individuals with an interest in making schools safe from the dangers of asbestos. The aim of the AiS is to make United Kingdom schools safe from the dangers of asbestos both for staff and pupils: http://www.asbestosexposureschools.co.uk.
Asbestos in Schools: the need for action:
http://www.jimsheridanmp.org.uk/asbestosinschoolsreport.pdf
Further information
Please contact:
Michael Lees of AIS
ml@asbestosexposureschools.co.uk
mob: 0791 0947362
JUAC Chair Julie Winn on 07736 490357.