To protect a person’s health, asbestos must be managed, but what are people doing to manage asbestos in UK schools?
The CEO of the Independent Asbestos Training Providers (IATP), Paul Beaumont, is keen to discuss the topic.
In 2016, IATP wrote an essay for Education Business magazine, which was published in 2016.
It raised awareness about the dangers of asbestos in our British classrooms.
Has there been any significant change in the previous four years?
Despite considerable progress, asbestos in schools in the United Kingdom remains a serious problem that will take time to resolve.
Asbestos may still be present in 85 percent of UK schools’ construction components such as paneling, doors, ceilings, and roofs.
Some of these products are deemed low risk because they offer no danger to staff or kids, while others are deemed high risk.
For the sake of personnel and student safety, these high-risk objects must be addressed promptly.
Asbestos is still utilised to line doors, ceiling panels, and asbestos insulation board is still used to construct walls (AIB).
These asbestos-containing goods grow increasingly dangerous as they age, and the potential of damage or tampering rises.
Despite the warnings, many schools are still failing to manage the asbestos threat adequately.
Asbestos exposure is becoming increasingly frequent in schools.
Since 1980, 319 teachers have died from Mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure, according to data.
Asbestos has a long latency period before any symptoms develop.
Children who have been exposed to asbestos are more likely to acquire mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases later in life. It’s
now or never to defend them!
Which brings us to the subject of what is being done in the United Kingdom regarding asbestos in our schools.
The discovery of asbestos in Westminster buildings in 2017 prompted a response from Parliament. To protect MPs, the government
concluded that immediate action was necessary.
So, why aren’t they doing anything similar in our schools?
We require greater funding from the UK government to solve the situation.
According to a new JUAC study, deadly asbestos will be present in our UK classrooms by the year 2050.
Another storey concerning an event at a local school was reported in the Sunderland Echo in March 2017.
The youngsters were hosed off since there was a possibility of asbestos being discharged. Strong gusts causing damage to the school’s
structure were thought to be the reason. Isn’t this the kind of thing that shouldn’t happen in this day and age?
As a result, it’s cause for alarm. The government has set a deadline of 2028 to remove all asbestos from schools and public buildings, but
is this a realistic goal?
It’s a huge undertaking, and it’ll probably be easier to simply destroy and rebuild. As a result, all of this costs a lot of money, which the
government is unlikely to budget for.
Asbestos data are given to school workers so that they can assess and manage asbestos concerns in their facilities properly. More
people are becoming aware of the dangers and consequences of asbestos in our schools, and the more we publicize them, the more
they will become aware of them, and things will hopefully proceed more quickly.
