Posts Tagged ‘asbestos containing materials’
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
Company fined after exposing workers and the public to asbestos
A refurbishment company has been fined after workers and the public were exposed to asbestos in a Leicestershire village.
Shengxuan Company Ltd was converting a shop in Borough Street, Castle Donington, into a restaurant on 16 June 2010.
Part of the work involved converting an integral garage into a storeroom but in doing so, workers disturbed asbestos-containing materials. This was then put in a skip by the workers, who were unaware of its presence or its risks.
A member of the public with experience in the asbestos industry walked past the site, saw what was in the skip and reported it to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Other debris was also seen on the floor between the skip and the garage. Read More
Asbestos fine for Halifax business
A Halifax property management company was fined £30,100 after admitting a series of offences leading workers being exposed to asbestos fibres.
MA Estates Limited of Holmfield, the owner and landlord of a factory building, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive for failing to properly manage the removal of asbestos-containing material when employees were replacing a roof at the factory in June 2007.
Halifax Magistrates’ Court was told that up to 15 employees from two businesses, both part of the same group as MA Estates and both occupants of the building, were working to upgrade the roof.
This included stripping material from support beams which, when later tested by HSE, were found to contain asbestos in limpet and spray form, the HSE said.
A local business complained to HSE after seeing the stripped materials, suspecting that they included asbestos fibres.
HSE visited the site and served a Prohibition Notice on MA Estates to stop work immediately. Read More
Managing asbestos safely
Fiona Riley, from the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health’s Education Group, discusses how important it is that asbestos in schools is managed with the utmost caution
There has been a heated debate over the years as to whether asbestos needs to be removed completely from schools. The answer is no, it just needs to be managed safely. If those responsible are complying with their legal obligations then it is extremely unlikely that teachers or pupils will be put at any risk from the substance during the course of their day-to-day activities.
Asbestos-containing materials were widely used in public service buildings such as schools and hospitals constructed between 1945-1980. In the UK, it is estimated that around half a million non-domestic buildings still contain asbestos, however, the exact number of schools that are included in this figure is unknown.
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