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Checks at 47 schools after asbestos goes unnoticed
NEW checks have been ordered at nearly 50 schools being rebuilt across the Bradford district amid fears that asbestos may not have been properly removed.
Unsealed asbestos at Cottingley Village Primary, near Bingley, was not spotted by contractors and the area was given the all-clear – and it was a term before the mistake came to light.
Now Bovis Lend Lease, the company overseeing the 186m programme to upgrade the district's schools, said it had ordered new independent inspections at all the 47 other schools known to contain asbestos to check it had been removed.
The alert at the 400-pupil school has emerged just days after the Yorkshire Post revealed fears over a new wave of asbestos victims who have never worked or had any direct contact with the fatal fibre.
Victims include Jean Whitwam, 66, who contracted the incurable asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma as a teacher at Outlane Infant School in Huddersfield.
It is suspected she was exposed while pinning children's work to the walls.
At Cottingley the asbestos was on the underside of a beam in a roof space above a corridor and was missed when work was carried out during the spring holidays. It was only discovered by Bradford Council's own asbestos team on July 16.
Last night Ian Murch, secretary of the Bradford branch of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said it was worrying because people had potentially been put at risk of asbestos exposure and it raised concerns about the system for removal.
"It raises questions about what kind of system is being operated here to lead to this mistake," he said.
He added: "You can't undo the damage once it has been done."
Mrs Whitwam's husband Kenneth, from Huddersfield, said the warnings had to be heeded.
"They do not seem to learn. It is deadly stuff. It is a killer and they have known about it for such a long time. This might have put people at risk," he said.
Bovis spokesman Andrew Bond insisted air tests were immediately carried out and there was no trace of asbestos.
It was temporarily sealed over the summer holidays and will be removed in October half-term.
Experts consider asbestos fibres to be relatively safe when they are firmly bonded or compacted within other material.
But when the bonding crumbles, as can happen with abrasion or water damage, it can release fibres which penetrate deep into the lung.
"We are doing anything we can to make sure such a lapse does not happen again," he said.
Bradford director of education Phil Green added: "We are assured by Bovis that the work will be carried out over the half-term period under the necessary stringent safety precautions in time for the school to reopen on Monday, October 28.."
hannah.start@ypn.co.uk
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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