Remove asbestos from schools

The ATL teaching union has called on the government to survey all schools for the presence of asbestos.

“We don’t know how many schools still contain asbestos, so most teachers have little idea of whether they or their pupils are being exposed to it,” said general secretary Mary Bousted.

Highlighting the extensive use of asbestos as a building material between 1945 and the early 1980s in new and refurbished schools, Bousted called on schools to keep asbestos registers recording the locations and condition of the substance, and to share this information with staff.

The union wants to see the removal of absestos, by licensed contractors, from all schools by 2010.