Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

This week several Members of Parliament (MPs) spoke out against the deplorable conditions in many of the schools across the country.  A startling statistic has recently come to light that has caught school and government officials completely flat on their heels:  nearly three-quarters of schools in the U.K. contain unsafe amounts of potentially deadly asbestos.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health said that the continued presence of that level of asbestos in schools where it could potentially endanger the lives and health of countless students is a “national scandal.”

The data was uncovered after a report was commissioned in response to yet another alarming statistic.  In recent years nearly 140 teachers have died from mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer caused by inhalation or ingestion of asbestos fibers.  That figure is much higher than the average across the population.  In response, investigators were called in to assess the asbestos situation within U.K. schools. 

Some experts have postulated that because these levels of exposure are so high that the U.K. can expect nearly 100 people to die every year into the foreseeable future because of this specific health threat.  That means that for every teacher death as many as nine students may succumb to one of the deadly disease caused by asbestos. 

In addition to removing the asbestos, the report concluded that more aggressive and sustained asbestos maintenance program must be initiated.

Schools in the United States are no strangers to asbestos either.  It’s estimated that nearly 1/3 of schools stateside contain asbestos in some form.  That statistic may shock some but because the current infrastructure of the education system in the US was created in the 40s and 50s when asbestos was still widely used, it doesn’t surprise experts.  However, one of the major differences between schools here compared to those elsewhere is that United States schools which contain asbestos are required to have an asbestos management plan in place.  These plans include yearly inspections -sooner if needed- and contingency plans which can be quickly enacted if asbestos materials are found to be degrading.

The U.K. report called for a similar system across the Atlantic, recommending annually informing interested parties, i.e. parents, teachers, and staff, about the condition of asbestos materials within their schools. 

Parliament may have been slow to catch on to the danger but they were not slow in calling for resolution.  Jim Sheridan, Labour MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, went on record saying that "urgent action is needed to prevent more pupils, teachers and other staff from being exposed to this deadly killer [asbestos] dust.”

Other MPs have banded together in support of a new program which is tasked with systematically clearing all or most of the harmful asbestos materials from all schools.  Still, that undertaking is tremendous with costs rising into the billions.