Eat Me

The backlog of repairs needed by English schools would require 8.5bn to fix, according to recent internal civil service estimates.

The dire condition of large parts of the 110bn school estate has become a source of panic, according to officials at the Department for Education, which accepted a 60 per cent cut to its capital budget. It has only 16bn to last the rest of the parliament.

Officials estimate that half of Englands schools were constructed between the second world war and the mid-1970s. Many of these schools are asbestos-riddled, flat-roofed and a long way beyond their intended lifespans.

These repair cost estimates do not account for new problems caused by the expectation many schools until recently held of being refurbished as part of Building Schools for the Future (BSF), Labours 55bn secondary school rebuilding plan.

The scheme was shut down last July by Michael Gove, education secretary, who cancelled 735 scheduled BSF projects. But those schools which were expecting to be rebuilt under BSF now need extra repairs

Meanwhile, repair costs are growing. The price of building materials has risen by 9.5 per cent since the start of the year.

Many schools built between the end of the second world war and the 1970s were of a CLASP system build type, in which, asbestos was used extensively, particularly for column fire protection. Due to wear and tear these schools are now in a potentially dangerous state and the HSE recommended that the gaps between the floors and walls should be sealed with silicone sealer to prevent the accidental escape of asbestos fibres into the classrooms.

With many schools now opting for Academy status, the headmasters of these schools will now become the sole duty holder for the asbestos in their schools, but how many will understand their responsibilities?

AMS run both asbestos awareness and duty to manage asbestos courses at their training centres in Cramlington and Wigan. If you are the duty holder responsible for managing the asbestos in your school or building, call us to book a half day course that will give you a definitive path to compliancy with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

Only in America – read on.

We mentioned in an earlier news story that illegally imported cigarettes coming into the UK had dealy asbestos in their filters in a similar vein to the Kent brand of smokes from the ’50s. Well, read on…smoke yourself rich!

A San Francisco jury has awarded $1.36 million to a terminally ill man who smoked filter-tipped Kent cigarettes in the 1950s that contained asbestos.

Lawyers for Don Lenney and his wife, Monica, said the verdict was a rare victory for plaintiffs who have sued over Kent’s use of asbestos in its Micronite filters from 1952 to 1956. The cigarette’s manufacturer, Lorillard Tobacco Co., says it has won 15 out of 20 trials nationwide and contends the filters released only trace amounts of asbestos that posed no danger.

Lenney, 73, a former Bay Area insurance agent, now lives in Placerville. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a form of cancer linked to asbestos, in November 2009 and had a lung removed in early 2010, his attorney said Thursday.

“He tries not to dwell on it too much and just wants to live as long as he can, and be there for his wife and children and grandchildren,” attorney Laurel Simes said.

Lenney started smoking other brands in 1953 at age 16 and soon switched to Kents, Simes said. She said he stopped smoking in 1965, shortly after the U.S. surgeon general warned of the dangers of cigarettes.

Medical groups’ concerns about tobacco in the early 1950s prompted companies to start selling filtered cigarettes. Kent’s ads promoted the Micronite filters as “the greatest health protection in cigarette history” and said they removed seven times as much tar and nicotine as other leading filters. The company removed asbestos from the filters in 1957.

During the seven-week trial in San Francisco Superior Court, lawyers for Lorillard and the filter’s manufacturer, Hollingsworth & Vose, argued that the filters were safe and that the evidence failed to show that Lenney had smoked Kents when they contained asbestos.

Simes said Lenney had testified that he used the brand during that period and was backed up by two former high school classmates.

The jury rejected a claim that the companies had been negligent but voted 9-3 to find that they had violated Lenney’s right to buy and use a safe product. The March 3 verdict apportioned 35 percent of the fault to Lorillard, 25 percent to Hollingsworth & Vose and the rest to other asbestos suppliers, a verdict that makes the two companies responsible for just over $1 million in damages, the Lenneys’ lawyers said.

Defense lawyer Randall Haimovici said the companies would appeal. The negligence verdict shows that jurors agreed “we didn’t do anything wrong by using asbestos in filters back in the 1950s,” he said.

On 9th March 2011, the Supreme Court upheld an earlier Appeal Court judgment that Dianne Willmore, who died of mesothelioma in October 2010, had been negligently exposed to asbestos while a pupil at a school run by Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council in the 1970s.

Commenting on the decision, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers union, said;
This case is of great significance since it is the first time that a former pupil has been awarded compensation for asbestos exposure which took place whilst at school. We hope it will act as a wake up call for local authorities and other employers to improve asbestos management in schools.

It has been known for many years that children are more vulnerable than adults to the effects of asbestos exposure, even at low levels. In the last 10 years 140 teachers have died of mesothelioma. If teachers are dying from their exposure, inevitably pupils will die too in later life. Because of the long latency period, however, there are no records of adults who have died because of childhood exposure.

The NUT has for many years been calling for an assessment of the asbestos risks to children at school. We hope that this case will lead the Government to commission such an assessment. For the sake of the children in our schools we hope that the assessment is carried out without further delay.

AMS have many years experience of managing asbestos in educational establishments and are able to advise building managers how best to prevent exposure to asbestos.

The Health and Safety Executive have renewed their campaign of checking site workers compliance with their directive that all tradespeople are trained to be asbestos aware. Due to the amount of refurbishment work going on in the North West of England being amongst the highest in the UK, the HSE are keen to ensure that employers around the Manchester and Liverpool areas can prove that their employees have undergone asbestos awareness training in the past year.

During the last few months, the HSE has sucessfully prosecuted employers who have put their employees at risk of asbestos exposure with its considerable health effects. We are now seeing more and more reports of deaths being attrbuted to asbestos exposure from up to 50 years ago and the rate of these deaths are due to peak later this decade.

AMS provide UKATA approved Asbestos Awareness Training at their purpose built training centre in Wigan. The venue has ample free parking and delegates will be able to see live asbestos samples sealed in perspex that adds reality to the course that few other training companies can offer.

“AMS has increased the number of courses available to ensure that as many people can gain access to this training as possible.” says Tony Murphy, AMS’s North West Regional Manager. “It is of vital improtance that employers ensure that their workers know what to look out for and what to do if they think that they may disturb asbestos in their work. We want to make sure that employers don’t get heavily fined for non-compliance, especially as the HSE have announced this crackdown on sites.”

“Please contact us to book a simple half day course that will make sure you know the health risks associated with exposure to asbestos dust; how to recognise possible asbestos containing materials and what to do if you think that you could be about to disturb asbestos. The course is relatively cheap and could save the lives of you, your employees and their families.” he continued.

“Just pick up the phone, dial 01670 737355and speak to Carrie, our training co-ordinator at head office. She’ll get you on the next available course.”

A farmer who buried potentially lethal asbestos on his land has been ordered to cough up more than 10,000 in fines and costs.

Last week Worksop Magistrates Court heard Anthony Bealby plead guilty to burying 2.3 tonnes of asbestos at Grange Farm, Lindrick Road, Woodsetts.

The court heard a series of visits by Environment Agency inspectors between November 2009 and February 2010 eventually found asbestos buried on land.

Bealby of Nidd Lane, Birstwith, Harrogate, took down a barn on Grange Farm with an asbestos laden roof for ‘financial reasons’.

He admitted cutting corners, saving more than 1,300 in proper disposal costs, by burying the waste instead of paying for it to be properly disposed of.

In June 2010 a land registry search confirmed Bealby had sold the land, but the asbestos was only removed this month following action by the Environment Agency.

Bealby was fined 6,500 and ordered to pay 3,500 in costs, along with a 15 victim surcharge.

Speaking after the case, a spokesman for the Environment Agency: “It is important the disposal of waste is regulated to ensure it does not endanger the environment.

“In this case the hazardous material was disposed of without any consideration for human health or the environment to avoid the true cost of its proper disposal.”

AMS provide advice about thesafe disposal of asbestos materials. We can also take samples of suspected asbestos containing materials and analyse them in our UKAS accredited laboratory to give you a definitive record of whether the material contains asbestos or not. Contact us for more details.

Mesothelioma is a thin, fast-spreading tumor of the pleura, peritoneum or pericardium. These are tissues that surround and encase internal organs. It almost always arises from exposure to asbestos, either on the job or in the home, and can take many years to develop. About 3,000 people are diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in the United States every year.

Because mesothelioma is such a rare cancer, many published studies focus on a single notable case or a small group of cases. A new study conducted by the Texas Occupational Medicine Institute attempts to paint a bigger picture of mesothelioma by analyzing a larger number of cases. The Texas researchers report on the findings of 238 cases of malignant mesothelioma from a private medical practice. Most of the cases had a history of exposure to asbestos at work. Their observations included the following:

Latency Despite isolated cases of short latency (such as the recent case of a woman who contracted mesothelioma just 8 years after exposure), this cancer usually takes at least 20 years to develop. The Texas researchers found a mean latency in their study of 48.5 years. The disease took longer to develop in woman than it did in men. They also found that people who were exposed to smaller amounts of asbestos tended to develop the disease later that those who had higher exposure.

Patient Characteristics Primarily because of this long latency, mesothelioma is normally a disease of the elderly. The mean age at diagnosis in the Texas study was 70. Men appear to be more likely to contract mesothelioma than women, even with the same level of exposure.

Survival Mesothelioma remains a difficult disease to treat. The Texas researchers found an overall survival among study participants of just 8.8 months. On the positive side, those who underwent treatment did live longer about 11.3 months as opposed to 6.4 months without treatment. The analysis also confirmed that mesothelioma patients with the epithelioid variety survive longer and do better with treatment than do patients with the sarcomatoid or biphasic varieties.

The analysis was published in the journal Industrial Health.

Sources:

Haber SE, Haber JM, Malignant Mesothelioma: A clinical study of 238 cases, December 16, 2010, Industrial Health.
Bitchatchi E, Kayser K, Perelman M, Richter ED, Mesothelioma and asbestosis in a young woman following occupational asbestos exposure: Short latency and long survival: Case Report, December 16, 2010. Diagnostic Pathology.

An appeal has been dropped against a landmark judgment requiring a company to contribute to the hospice care costs of a former south-east-London-based worker it exposed to asbestos, family lawyers said.

An insurer’s “last minute” decision not to proceed with the appeal opens the way for hospices across the country to benefit from the ruling.

Thousands of claims could now be brought by cash-needy hospices against companies whose former workers are dying from asbestos-related illnesses.

Most victims are ex-workers at power stations, shipyards and building sites, where asbestos was prevalent as insulation and a fire-retardant.

The test case involved James Willson, who worked at Deptford power station, south-east London, in the 1950s and fell victim to mesothelioma, an asbestos-related disease which may not appear until 50 years after exposure.

Last year a High Court judge decided that Foster Wheeler Ltd, the company which employed Mr Willson, should pay all the costs of his care at St Joseph’s Hospice, Hackney, which would otherwise have had to be met out of charity donations.

Mr Willson started working at the power station in 1951 and was regularly exposed to asbestos while erecting new boilers. More than 50 years later, in 2006, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He spent 23 days at the hospice before dying there in March 2007, aged 76.

The engineering company’s insurers, Royal & Sun Alliance, started proceedings to appeal against the ruling but the appeal was dropped days before it was due to go ahead, said Irwin Mitchell.

Caroline Pinfold, a solicitor with the firm, said the case “provides a legal basis for hospices to be repaid for the tremendously valuable work they do where their care has been needed as a result of someone else’s wrongdoing”.

The Royal & Sun Alliance confirmed that it is not going to proceed with the appeal.

Unsafe construction sites in Cumbria are being targeted in a month-long campaign of unannounced visits to building sites by inspectors.

The Health and Safety Executive said three people were killed and 94 workers injured in the construction industry in Cumbria last year.

Inspectors are now pouncing on sites across the North West, where eight workers died and 1,000 were injured in the year 2009-10.

They want to cut accidents in one of Britains most dangerous industries.

Half of the deaths occurred during refurbishment, repair and maintenance activities, as opposed to new-build projects.

Those areas will be the main focus of the inspections, which run until March 11.

Firms not meeting the standards in areas like people working at height could face large fines.

Inspectors will also be looking to see if the risk of exposure to residual asbestos is properly managed and if there has been a survey to check for asbestos, which is in many older buildings.

During a campaign last year, 100 of the 343 sites inspectors visited in the North West failed their safety inspections.

A total of 144 prohibition notices were issued to stop work activities immediately, with more than 40 per cent relating to working at height.

Allen Shute, HSE inspector for construction, said: This will be the fifth year that we have run the inspection initiative and we expect that there will be examples of both good and bad practice those where employers are taking all the measures they can to protect their workers, and those where safety is way down the list of priorities.

A lax attitude to health and safety in one of Britains more dangerous industries is not acceptable, especially when many of the incidents are completely avoidable by taking commonsense actions and precautions. We will not hesitate to take action if we find poor practice that is putting the lives of workers at risk.

In the year 2009-10, there was one death and 12 injuries in construction in Barrow, seven injuries in Copeland, and one death and 28 injuries in South Copeland.

To ensure that your refurbishment project is not stopped by the HSE because of anything to do with asbestos, contact the experts, AMS Ltd. With branches in North East and North West England we can give you advice, training, asbestos surveys and asbestos remediation project management services from the Central Belt of Scotland to the Midlands and North Wales. Visit our website for more details and our contact details.

A building firm has been fined 2,500 after allowing its workers to undertake unlicensed asbestos removal.

In a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Ron Couch Building Contractors Ltd, from Pontypool, pleaded guilty to two charges under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

The firm was undertaking work replacing a central heating boiler at a private residence when workers removed a door covered in asbestos insulation in order to remove the boiler. A licensed asbestos contractor, who happened to be working nearby, alerted the workers to the danger of asbestos when he saw the door lying outside.

Under law any work involving asbestos insulation must be undertaken by licenses contractors. Steve Richardson, an inspector with the HSE, said: “The company was well aware of its legal duties in terms of asbestos work as, prior to this incident, it carried out removal of the asbestos boiler flue in a safe manner using qualified personnel. “AIB poses less of a risk if not damaged, but this work exposed the edges of the board increasing the risk of releasing asbestos fibres which could be inhaled by the workers and anyone else using the premises.”

In addition to the fine the company was ordered to pay 1,250 in costs.