The dangers of asbestos are a subject we've covered time and again here on the Label Source blog, but we're continuing to see story after story about people who don't take those dangers seriously enough, and about the consequences that this attitude can lead to.
The latest such story was publish only today by the Worcester News.
Story and photograph from www.worcesternews.co.uk
Back in October 2013, Christopher Whitehead Language College in Worcester hired two 18-year-old workers to remove an asbestos roof from a small lean-to building on the school grounds. The pair accomplished this by knocking the asbestos down from atop the building before double-bagging the material and disposing of it.
If you've ever heard the line about how 'asbestos is perfectly safe as long as it isn't disturbed'*, you'll spot the problem with this method right away. By knocking the asbestos roof down, the two workers at Christopher Whitehead School no doubt released a great number of asbestos fibres into the air and risked inhaling them. While asbestos exposure causes no instantaneous harm, more than 4 thousand people die every year in the UK from slow-acting asbestos-related conditions such as mesothelioma. And while the work was carried out during the October half-term holiday, this doesn't necessarily mean that the two workmen were the only people at risk here, as this story from the British Lung Foundation illustrates.
So here we are, saying it again: asbestos fibres are deadly and every measure should be taken in order to keep them from being released into the air and potentially breathed in. Knocking apart an asbestos roof is very dangerous; indeed, this was recognised in a complaint about the work at Christopher Whitehead School by public service union Unison. This complaint was upheld by the Health and Safety Executive, who reprimanded the school for poor health and safety practices.
Click here for more information on how to deal with asbestos safely, or visit our Asbestos Signs & Labels department to browse our full range of asbestos safety products.
*From the HSE's web page on asbestos: "As long as asbestos is in good condition and is not disturbed there is negligible risk. However, if it is disturbed or damaged, it can become a danger to health, because asbestos fibres are released into the air and people may breathe them in."
