Follow Up to Asbestos in the Schools
Earlier this month, we wrote about the fact that asbestos still exists in many schools worldwide. Asbestos is a naturally occuring mineral that was used in many industrial and building materials to resist heat and corrision. Due to it’s insulating and heat-resistant properties, it was often used in schools for roofing, ceiling and floor tiles, cement, insulation, and in other building materials.
Mesothelioma attorneys, Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason, published news detailing Australia’s efforts to establish a nation-wide asbestos register. The aim of the register is to locate where asbestos exists in buildings and to create plans to manage the potentially deadly substance safely.
The article, Asbestos Found in Almost All New South Wales Schools, spoke of a recently completed study of nearly 600 schools, with results showing that almost all contained asbestos. Despite the presence of asbestos, only a few schools were considered to be at risk. If asbestos is kept in “good and sound condition” then it does not pose a health hazard. It is only when asbestos becomes “friable” that exposure can cause deadly diseases, such as mesothelioma, asbestosis, and other forms of lung cancer. Friable means the asbestos containing material has the potential to release fibers into the air. Any material that can be crumbled, crushed, or reduced to powder by hand pressure when dry is considered friable.
The asbestos survey team is now in the process of assessing what risk the asbestos poses for students, staff, and maintenance and building contractors and determining what action needs to be taken to protect them.
To find out more about asbestos in the schools, watch BBC Inside Out: Asbestos in the Classroom on Wednesday, January 28, on BBC One, at 7:30p.m. and on BBC iplayer at bbc.co.uk/iplayer.
