The Commons Work and Pensions Committee have now held their first meeting on the affect asbestos has had on teachers and pupils in UK schools, we covered the idea behind these meetings in our blog from last week which you can read about here.
At the meeting Charles Pickles, founder of campaign group Airtight on Asbestos, gave the commons a stark warning that because of asbestos-related illnesses 200 to 300 children are having the lives shortened “just as a result of going to school”. Fervent campaigner Mr Pickles also......
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This month a committee of MPs have started to investigate the dangers faced by UK hospital staff as well as teachers and pupils in schools across the country from potential asbestos exposure. This comes after warnings from campaign groups that the current measures are not enough to curb these preventable deaths linked to the dangerous substance.
Between the years 2001 and 2016 it has been reported that 305 teachers have died from Mesothelioma however, according to campaign group Airtight on Asbestos, the real number is likely to be higher. The group’s......
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Asbestos fears have been raised in Carlisle after hundreds of tonnes of wate at a recycling centre went ablaze earlier in November. This took place at a unit which contained different materials such as wood, plastics and regular household waste.
Cumbrian police issued a warning telling those living nearby to ensure they have their doors and windows closed as a precaution due to the roof of the unit containing asbestos leading to worries the fibres could spread in the area.
The fire and rescue service for Cumbria remained on site for multiple......
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An inquest held at Derby Coroner’s Court in October, looking into the death of a labourer from Derbyshire has heard how he died after being exposed to deadly asbestos whilst working at a power station without the necessary protective equipment.
87 year old Reginald Coleman, who died at his home in March of this year suffered from multiple illnesses that all linked back to his asbestos exposure. During the 1960s Mr Coleman along with his brother, who also died from asbestos exposure three years ago, worked as general labourers at the......
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A demolition crew brought in to work on the remnants of a massive gas explosions in Ayr, Scotland were halted recently due to fears that were asbestos containing materials in the debris.
Earlier in October a gas explosion hit in the area of Gorse Park, completely destroying one home, damaging others and hospitalising a family of four.
The houses that were worst effected in the blast are going to be flattened with a specialty team brought in to carry out the job. The team from the demolition company Caskie were told to......
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A construction company based in Bradford has been fined due to breaching health and safety after their workers were exposed to asbestos during a shop conversion job in March 2019.
An investigation by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) found that the director of the company along with the casual labourers that they employed spent approximately three to four weeks working on this ceiling removal.
On the job in Hessle Road, Hull the unskilled and untrained employees were provided with a claw hammer and tasked with removing false ceiling tiles which unbeknownst......
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Education unions have been warning of the potential danger pupils and teachers at Welsh schools could be facing due inconsistent monitoring of asbestos in their buildings.
This comes after a Freedom of Information (FOI) request put forward by BBC Wales has shown that over 900 schools in the country contain some level of asbestos. The majority of these are inspected at regular intervals however there are some surveys released that are 10 years old and with the asbestos marked as suspected rather than known.
This isn’t the first time this year that......
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Starting on Monday 4th October, Britain’s national workplace regulator for health and safety, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) kickstarted a month long initiative focusing on inspections at construction sites of varying shapes and sizes across Great Britain to ensure workers are protected against dangerous dust inhalation.
This ranges from large scale commercial new builds to smaller projects such as domestic refurbishments that will be visited to check that all the necessary measures are in place to show that the health worker’s lungs are not in danger from dust exposure.
Inspectors from......
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Proposed plans to open up a new arts centre in Wakefield were put on pause recently after a high quantity of asbestos was discovered in the building that was to be used for the centre.
Wakefield council were looking to open the new venue in what was a BHS store in the town that closed down in 2016, their desire is to convert the former shop into a centre that will house a museum, library, gallery as well as a café. This follows complaints from residents that the building is now......
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It has been confirmed that the BBC is facing another lawsuit from an asbestos related death, earlier in the summer it was reported that the widow of a member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra was taking action against the corporation due to the death of her husband (read our blog on this story here) and now the widow of a set builder who worked for the BBC from 1965 until 1988 is looking to follow suit.
Valerie Evans, whose husband worked on creating the sets for BBC dramas such......
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