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Report asbestos in schools

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Mum, asbestos in schools, petition, Protect our children and teachers from asbestos exposure at school.

A petition has been set up calling for every school in the UK to have to produce an annual report about the type and condition of any asbestos on the premises and share this with all parents and staff.

It calls for every child’s potential exposure to asbestos at school to be recorded and shared with parents.

And it calls for the government to introduce and implement a policy for the phased removal of all asbestos from schools to be completed by 2028, starting with the most dangerous asbestos.

The petition, which is to be handed to Nicky Morgan, the Secretary of State for Education, was launched by Lucie Stephens, who explains:

My Mum, Sue Stephens, was a primary school teacher in Buckinghamshire for almost 30 years.

She taught over 800 children and was a wonderful teacher and very committed to her work.

Some of her ex-pupils recently wrote to her saying ‘you were the best reception teacher we could ever have wished for and you gave us the best grounding in education that anyone could ever have’.

Tragically my Mum is now dying from mesothelioma, a cancer that comes from exposure to asbestos.

It can lie dormant for a long time, meaning that victims are diagnosed with the illness 15 to 60 years after their exposure.

Mum believes she was exposed to asbestos in the school she taught in.

Although Mum is now in the last weeks of her life, she is horrified that teachers and pupils continue to be exposed to asbestos in schools. I’ve promised her that I will do my best to make sure no-one else has to suffer like she has.

The problem with asbestos in schools:

86 per cent of UK schools have asbestos in them, putting over 7 million pupils at risk. A survey in 2015 found that 44 per cent of teachers have not been told if their school contains asbestos.

This lack of awareness puts them and their pupils at risk of exposure;

More than 224 school teachers in England have died of mesothelioma between 2003 and 2012.

There is a similar pattern for school support and maintenance staff.

Last year 22 teachers died, meaning the UK has the highest death rate in the world. Experts predict that the number of school related deaths in the UK will continue to rise; and

Children are particularly vulnerable to developing mesothelioma.

A five year-old child that is exposed is five times more likely to contract mesothelioma than someone exposed to asbestos in their 30s.

It is reported that between 200 and 300 people die each year as a result of exposure to asbestos when they were children at school.

All of these deaths are completely preventable.

We’ve known the dangers since the 1960s with legislation controlling its use since the mid-1980s.

Two million asbestos fibres can fit on a pin head but mesothelioma can develop from ingesting only one or two fibres.

Despite this people continue to be put at risk due to the failure of successive governments to remove asbestos from our schools.

I’ve seen first-hand the pain and suffering that mesothelioma causes. I’m already losing my Mum to this terrible disease, I need to be sure that my school age daughter is not in danger simply by going to school.

We can’t let more of our children and teachers die from this entirely preventable disease. Nicky Morgan must prioritise the removal of all asbestos from all our schools.

To sign the petition, click here. Thanks.

  1. Lucie Stephens says:

    Thank you for posting this. My darling Mum died on Sunday 26th June. We will be continuing the campaign as part of her legacy.

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