Leading charities, campaign groups and education unions warn the next government of a 'growing risk' to teachers and pupilsUp to 150 school workers and pupils are at risk of death or fatal exposure from asbestos each year as current plans to fix the UK’s crumbling schools fail to address the deadly building material, experts have warned.
The data from the Environmental Protection Agency in the US revealed that for every teacher dying from mesothelioma, an incurable cancer which can develop decades after asbestos exposure, nine pupils would die in middle or old age. Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that 371 teaching and education professionals died from mesothelioma from 2010 to 2020., representing teaching unions, estimates that between 1980-2017 between 5,000 and 10,000 school pupils and staff died from mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure in their former schools from the 60s-80s.
A Commons Committee of Public Accounts report on reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in November said the DfE had “incomplete knowledge” of asbestos in schools. “My children go to a school with an asbestos problem. It’s too late for me to prevent them from having been exposed,” he said.“But I definitely don’t want my grandchildren to be still dealing with this problem when asbestos in schools is in an even worse condition.
Sarah Lyon, a National Education Union lead on asbestos, said: “The odds are stacked against schools successfully bidding for a rebuild, with so many hoops to jump through and removal would be cost effective.” Jonathan Grant, chair of FAAM, said: “Asbestos management requires complex risk assessment and constant vigilance.