Asbestos lurking in 56 Denbighshire schools

Oct 7 2009

School child

FIFTY six schools in Denbighshire are still waiting to have deadly asbestos removed from their buildings.

A request under the Freedom of Information Act found 357 primary, secondary and special schools across North Wales still have asbestos.

We also discovered there are 60 schools in Conwy containing the poisonous substance, 58 in Flintshire, 56 in Denbighshire, 56 on Anglesey, and 63 in Wrexham, where the local authority has an annual budget of £150,000 to get rid of asbestos, the world’s biggest industrial killer.

Unison blasted education bosses for failing to remove the potentially deadly substance and have called for risk assessments to be made public.

They also suggested pupils be moved and educated in alternative buildings while removals take place.

It comes after we reported 12 months ago how 113 schools across the region had removed asbestos in the five years previously, and education bosses pledged to clear it from remaining buildings.

Unison are demanding asbestos be cleared from all schools by 2010.

However, the majority still have the substance in their walls, roofs, pipework, floor tiles, classrooms, kitchens and plumbing.

All of the councils said nobody had been sick or off ill because of asbestos, though an inquest last spring found retired teacher Renee Blodwen Eden, 69, from Anglesey, was most likely killed by exposure to asbestos in a school building in Flintshire. She retired in 1998.

Jean Brady, the organisation’s North Wales regional manager, said: "There is a lot of concern about this, especially as the schools don’t make risk assessments public and people don’t know the full extent of the problem.

"We have called for the health and safety measures to be put in place to ensure no one is at risk in the workplace and the local authorities should be working with the Welsh Assembly Government to form an action plan to move the schools to new accommodation whilst either the asbestos is safely removed, or to condemn the buildings totally.

"The cost to humans far outweighs the cost of not doing the work safely and the problems are well known with illness and deaths associated with asbestosis.

"Many of the symptoms don’t show for a number of years and in most cases it is too late for medical intervention. The Assembly and the councils must work together along with the unions to ensure this is the priority."

Mrs Brady added: "I believe the quote from the local councils that no one has reported any illness or side affects in these schools is unacceptable. Are they sitting back and waiting for children to be diagnosed later in life?

"This shows a total lack of knowledge and understanding regarding the risks with asbestos through day to day working and living with the materials.

"We will be contacting the HSE to request urgent risk assessments are carried out and the findings of the assessments made public to all parents and staff."

A Denbighshire County Council spokeswoman confirmed the county has 48 primary schools and eight secondary schools which have been found to contain the substance.

Among them was St Brigid’s in Denbigh, where teachers only found out a school hall was covered in asbestos last July when asked to hand out letters informing parents and pupils about the problem.

She said: "All of the asbestos was discovered pre-Denbighshire County Council and we are currently monitoring and planning for removal."