Kent News - KCC chiefs have asbestos school danger controlled

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KCC chiefs have asbestos school danger controlled

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BBC broacast sparked the upset

Children are safer from exposure to asbestos in Kent schools than they are in the outside world, according to a building expert for the county authority.

Peter Binnie, head of operations for Kent County Council’s Property Group, which manages the authority’s estate, sought to reassure parents after a BBC South East investigation revealed that 92 per cent of the schools in the county contain asbestos.

“Schools in Kent have asbestos in them but it is managed, controlled and identified in a very stringent way so there is minimal risk to pupils and teachers,” he said.

“Children are better protected there than they are out in their own homes.”

Freedom of Information requests revealed that the deadly material is present in 554 of Kent’s 559 schools and that 111 of the 116 schools in Medway.

Exposure to asbestos fibres can cause mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung or more rarely of the abdomen, it remain undetectable for up to 50 years after exposure and is virtually always fatal.

Dr Alaistair Stewart, a consultant chest physician and the Kent lead on mesothelioma, said: “If the asbestos is truly well managed then this is a storm in a tea cup.

“But the problem is that we don’t really know if it is.”

He called for an independent body to regulate asbestos in schools, find where it is and whether it was safe.

“Where the concern really arises is around the fact that the Government has passed responsibility to the schools to assess whether it poses a risk.

“Schools say no we have not got a problem but there is not actually anyone checking whether it is solid enough and cannot be disturbed.”

Dr Stewart said the amount of asbestos exposure needed to cause mesothelioma was unknown although it usually occurs in people who have been exposed to small amounts for many years or through really intense exposure.

Mr Binnie told how asbestos is present, especially in rural areas in garages and sheds, and was used in ceilings and wall boarding in homes and other buildings more than 20 years old.

KCC and Medway Council said schools were inspected regularly and asbestos management registers were held showing where the hazardous material is found and in what form.

The authorities in the US and Ireland are removing asbestos from all schools and the National Union of Teachers has called for the same precaution to be taken in the UK.

Dr Robin Howie, the asbestos consultant who featured in the programme which was aired on BBC 1’s Inside Out on Wednesday, said the numbers of teachers dying of asbestos-related illnesses in the UK had risen.

He said this was the “tip of the iceberg” and the iceberg was the children who could have mesothelioma.

Mr Binnie said even the schools rebuilding and refurbishment programme would not spell the complete end for asbestos in all schools and that enclosed in walls or ceilings would be left unless it posed a risk or was exposed.

He said: “A close friend of mine has asbestosis. I have worked with asbestos for more than 30 years so I’m a potential victim of mesothelioma in the years to come.

“But you do not know where you have contracted it, it could be schools or it could be somewhere else.”

He said he would not be angry if he had contracted an asbestos related illness before the dangers were known.

“We manage it and look after it now so I would be angry if I was exposed now” he added. “But I have no issue going into any of our schools and I do not think our children or teachers are at risk.”

Solid asbestos is quite safe unless it is broken up or damaged and the fibres are release and breathed in.

POSTED: 31/01/2009 18:00:00

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