Teachers Sue for Asbestos Exposure

September 11, 2006 - Two teachers in the United Kingdom town of Sunderland, England are suing for compensation after claiming they contracted cancer by pinning children's work onto school walls that are riddled with asbestos.

According to an account in the Sunderland Times, about 415 schools in Sunderland, Durham and South Tyneside contain asbestos, and though new government rules state that teachers should be made aware of the presence of asbestos in their schools and classrooms, most say that aren’t conscious of the threat caused by the simple act of tacking a students A+ paper to a wall or bulletin board.

Howard Brown, a spokesman for the National Union of Teachers (NUT) stated that "there is widespread use of asbestos in schools and every school should have an asbestos map, so teachers know where it is and won't put pins in.”

"Our school has [a map], but talking to other staff, they are not even aware of whether asbestos is present in their schools, so they are assuming that it isn't there. It needs to be made much clearer," added Brown.

"Our advice to teachers is if they think they have disturbed asbestos, log it on the day and go to the doctor,” said Brown.  “It makes an insurance claim for compensation much safer. But, what do we tell children? Who is responsible for them?"

Because most of the schools in these regions were built before 1985, when brown and blue asbestos was banned in England, the threat is very real.  Just a few years ago, a union survey of 22 school kitchens in Durham revealed 20 of them contained damaged asbestos. The asbestos discovered ranged from broken ceiling tiles to cracked plates on wall pipes, ovens and sterilizers, according to union officials.  Damaged asbestos allows for the circulation of dangerous fibers, which can be inhaled by those working in the schools as well as students attending classes there.