Archive for November 28th, 2011
Welsh hospital under further asbestos-management scrutiny
The Welsh Government has launched an independent review into the management of asbestos at Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth.
The hospital failed to implement effective controls to manage asbestos after a survey in 2004 found the substance in stairwells and lift shafts. The unsafe practices, which required maintenance workers to operate in these areas, continued until 2009, when they were quickly identified by the hospital’s new Health Board and reported to the HSE.
However, the HSE was powerless to pursue a prosecution over the asbestos breaches because of a legislative error, which failed to ensure that issues of previous corporate criminal responsibility were transferred to the Hywel Dda Local Health Board when it was created – along with six others – in 2009, as part of NHS reforms in Wales.
The chief executive of NHS Wales, David Sissling, has now commissioned an independent review into the management of asbestos at the hospital, so that lessons can be learned for the wider organisation. The review will be undertaken alongside the ongoing investigation by the HSE and the internal inquiry by the Health Board.
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Belvedere school closed following asbestos discovery
A Belvedere school has been closed following the discovery of asbestos in the school hall.
Traces of asbestos were found at Belvedere Infant School, in Mitchell Close, on November 17 and the school was closed as a safety precaution the following day.
All lessons have been suspended until December 1 and the school itself is not expected to open again until February next year.
Bexley Council is working with the school to provide alternative arrangements for children while the school remains closed.
The school assures parents children will be taught in the same class groups and by the same teachers when the school re-opens.
Headteacher Linda Mulley said: “This is an unexpected period of disruption for our children and I appreciate the patience that children, parents and carers have shown while we are putting final arrangements in place. Read More