Safety Last - but police spied on union members

DAWLISH, a resort on the South Devon coast, looks like a nice place to retire, and I expect Juliette Austin had looked forward to enjoying her retirement. But Ms. Austin, who as a former PE teacher had probably looked after her health, did not have long to do so. 

“AN INQUEST has been opened into the death of a 67-year-old retired PE teacher  who had been suffering from an asbestos-related disease. Juliette Mary Austin, of Elmwood Crescent, Dawlish, had been exposed to asbestos during her working life, most likely in various gymnasiums. Ms Austin, originally from Holbeach, Lincoln, had been diagnosed with mesothelioma before she died at Rowcroft Hospice on February 15., Cause of death was epithelioid mesothelioma.” http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co.uk/PE-teacher-exposed-asbestos-gymnasiums-coroner/story-26070124-detail/story.html

Asbestos campaigner Michael Lees, who as it happens lives in Devon, says 86% of schools surveyed in UK local authorities contain asbestos.
http://www.asbestosexposureschools.co.uk/pdfnewslinksLAs%20schools%20containing%20asbestos.pdf

He disputes a statement by the Department of Education in their draft report on their asbestos policy review that “We estimate that up to 75% of schools in England contain some asbestos...”

"They are wrong, and the reason is that the Government has never carried out an audit of asbestos in schools. Instead their estimate is based on the age of the buildings and their floor areas. This study confirms the need to carry out an audit of the extent, type and condition of asbestos in schools". 

There have been questions in parliament about the schools asbestos issue.


Annette Brooke MP:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the summary report of the Property Data Survey Programme, published in January 2015, how many schools were rated as being (a) good, (b) satisfactory, (c) poor and (d) bad condition. (225260)

Answer:
Mr David Laws: 
The Property Data Survey does not provide an overall assessment of schools in the manner requested. The surveyors who visited schools made an assessment of the condition of individual construction types within each block, such as different types of roofs or walls for which we hold individual records, but did not attempt to rate an entire school on a ‘good’ to ‘bad’ scale.

The answer was submitted on February 27, 2015 at 11:42

Annette Brooke MP:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the summary report of the Property Data Survey Programme, published in January 2015, what estimate she has made of the total cost of repairs necessary to bring the school estate in England up to good condition. (225207)

Answer:
Mr David Laws:  The Property Data Survey was designed to give a relative view of condition need. As stated in the report, the Property Data Survey condition need we have calculated is not the cost of addressing the need in the estate but a relative weighting of the complexity of addressing different types of condition need. Calculating the total cost of addressing the need in the estate would involve taking into account other factors, such as asbestos and structural need, which are excluded from the survey. As such we do not hold an estimate of the total cost of repairs necessary to bring the school estate in England up to good condition.

The answer was submitted on 02 Mar 2015 at 14:23.


Annette Brooke MP
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the summary report of the Property Data Survey Programme, published in January 2015, whether the cost of maintaining, repairing or replacing a school building referred to in that report includes extra costs incurred because of the presence of asbestos. (225171)

Answer:
Mr David Laws:

The information collected by the Property Data Survey Programme focused on the condition of the buildings. The surveyors who visited schools as part of the programme did not record any information on the presence of asbestos. The condition need identified through the surveys does not reflect any asbestos that may be present.

The answer was submitted on 02 Mar 2015 at 14:21.

Michael Lees comments:

"The PDSP was an audit of the condition of the school estate in England and was published on 6th February. Asbestos was specifically, and irrationally excluded.

It is extraordinary that at the end of the two year audit DfE cannot say either how many schools or buildings are in a good, satisfactory, poor or bad condition or how much it will cost to bring the whole estate up to a good condition.

See: Property Data Survey Programme Summary report

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/402138/PDSP_Summary_Report.pdf



A Derbyshire group which works to raise awareness about the dangers of asbestos,  DAST say that despite Asbestos being banned since 2000 it may still be found in any property built before that date. It is estimated that it is present in 90% of all public sector housing and schools as well as people's homes. Last year the group supported 294 people in the East Midlands who had been diagnosed with an asbestos related disease, 65 of those people were from Derbyshire.
http://www.itv.com/news/central/2015-02-25/derbyshire-group-raising-awareness-of-asbestos-dangers/

Another inquest opened last week, into the death of building worker Rene Tkacik, 44, killed on the Crossrail site at Fisher Street, London, on March 7 last year, when a section of freshly sprayed on concrete, or shotcrete, came down on him. Outside the St.Pancras Coroners court I joined supporters of the London Hazards Centre and the Construction Safety Campaign, who held a vigil as Mr.Tkacic's family members arrived with their lawyers.

Safety campaigners say workers on the Crossrail project have more than once been dismissed by contractors after raising concerns about safety.  While welcoming the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into Rene Tkacic's death they would like to see a wider investigation into health and safety on Crossrail. 

At the same time the campaigners note that the government has cut the HSE's budget by 38 per cent.
In a leaflet preparing for International Workers Memorial Day on April 28, they also mention that over 2,000 people in this country die each year due to exposure to asbestos, "mostly building workers", but also "teachers and pupils are dying from exposure to asbestos in poorly maintained schools."

Lest it be thought that the powers-that-be are not paying attention to those raising these issues,  a story in the Daily Mirror yesterday reveals another angle:


Undercover cop joined construction union UCATT to spy on workers

    21:00, 2 March 2015
    By Nick Sommerlad

An undercover policeman infiltrated a union to monitor protests against deaths on building sites, the Mirror can reveal.

Mark Jenner posed as a joiner and joined construction union UCATT.

Activists believe personal information collected by the officer was used by industry bosses to blacklist workers who raised concerns about health and safety.

Major industry chiefs benefited from the notorious blacklist that has been linked to Tory-donating construction firm Sir Robert McAlpine.

Steve Murphy, UCATT’s general secretary, said tonight: “Public money was spent on police covertly joining trade unions, infiltrating groups associated with trade unions and colluding with construction employers to blacklist workers.

"This is a scandal that must be exposed.”

Mr Murphy, who has demanded an inquiry, said the Met police “operated a secret organisation that destroyed innocent people’s lives”.

A Scotland Yard spokesperson said: “We neither confirm nor deny the identity of any individual alleged to have been in a covert role. We are not prepared to confirm or deny the deployment of individuals on specific operations.”

While undercover in the 1990s, Mr Jenner – part of the Met’s now-disbanded Special Demonstration Squad – had a five-year relationship with an unsuspecting activist, Alison – not her real name.

She told the Mirror: “It is appalling they spied on people who were arguing for better health and safety at work.”

Mr Jenner also formed friendships with at least two building workers who ended up blacklisted. Labour MP Steve Rotheram said: “It’s very sinister. We were using an officer to infiltrate legitimate trade unions.”

Mr Jenner, 51, posed as Mark Cassidy, from Merseyside, and was a member of UCATT for three years starting in 1996.

He paid by direct debit and remained a UCATT member until 1998, during a period when the union was negotiating over a series of high profile construction projects including the Jubilee Line extension and the Millennium Dome.

Jenner’s diary, left when he fled the home he shared with “Alison”, show that he monitored meetings of UCATT and other unions. Alison says that union activity formed a “large part” of his day to day work.

He also penetrated the Colin Roach Centre in Hackney, East London, which campaigned on behalf of victims of police ill-treatment.

Three months ago UCATT used Freedom of Information laws to ask the Met: “Was there a policy of infiltration of trades unions conducted by the Special Demonstration Squad?”

Scotland Yard said it was not required to confirm or deny whether it held the details requested. The force give six reasons why they could not reveal the information including national security.

Blacklisting firm the Consulting Association was paid to supply information to construction companies. Sir Robert McAlpine stumped up £10,000 that was used to help launch the organisation in the early-90s. The association was closed down in 2009.

A probe by Derbyshire police found “no conclusive evidence” that Scotland Yard shared information with blacklisters.

But David Clancy, investigations manager at the ICO, has said the blacklisting files contained specific operational details “that I believe could only be supplied by the police or the security services”.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said in 2013 that it was “likely that all special branches were involved in providing information”.

A second former SDS officer Peter Francis, who went undercover as activist Pete Black before turning whistleblower, has seen blacklisting files of two trade unionists he monitored and said they included details he had provided to his handlers.

The Mirror has spoken to two further active trade unionists who befriended Jenner and believe their files contain information he obtained undercover.

Jenner joined them at meetings of a small group called the Building Workers Group which was linked to UCATT and arranged pickets a construction sites where there had been deaths or serious injuries.

Steve Murphy added: “UCATT was infiltrated by the police and members have a right to know why. This sort of operation could only have been sanctioned at the highest level.

"I believe the truth rests with the Home Office. Who gave authority for the police to do this and how high did it go?”

Mr Murphy added: “The Metropolitan Police must not be allowed to hide the truth; they operated a secret organisation that destroyed innocent people’s lives. They must be held to account.

“It is increasingly clear that the only way we are going to get the full truth on the blacklisting scandal is by holding a full public inquiry which is open and transparent.”

Blacklisting firm the Consulting Association was paid to supply information to more than 40 construction companies, including Balfour Beatty, Skanska and Carillion, before it was raided by the Information Commissioner in 2009. Sir Robert McAlpine paid £10,000 to help set up the Consulting Association in the early 1990s.

Another covert police unit the National Extremism Tactical Co-Ordination Unit is known to have met with the Consulting Association in 2008, shortly before the blacklisting firm was closed down.

Handwritten notes of the meeting by Consulting Association boss Ian Kerr seen by the Mirror indicate that NECTU was set up to monitor animal rights activists but was “now expanding”.

The notes refer to the construction industry specifically and that NECTU wants to “liaise with industry”.

UCATT made a second FOI request to the Metropolitan Police about NECTU, asking for details of meetings with the Consulting Association.

Scotland Yard replied: “Searches failed to locate any information relevant to your request, therefore the information you have requested is not held by the MPs.”


    http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/undercover-cop-joined-construction-union-5261174

 see also:
http://www.asbestosexposureschools.co.uk/pdfnewslinks/LAs%20schools%20containing%20asbestos.pdf


www.asbestosexposureschools.co.uk

http://www.lhc.org.uk/ 

Killer in the Classroom

MESOTHELIOMA DAY, 2014.  Vince Hagedorn, (left, in white shirt), releasing doves at St.John's Gate, in London.  Vince's partner, Carole, had died of mesothelioma not long before.

IT does not seem absolutely clear what led to the death of Jennifer Barnett. The former art teacher died from malignant mesothelioma in September last year.  Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that  develops in the lining of the lungs, or sometimes other organs, and is usually caused by exposure to asbestos fibres.

Jennifer did cut asbestos sheets when she worked on farms in her twenties. But that was not the end of her contact with the dangerous substance.   

As her husband Nigel Barnett, of Painswick, Glos, told an inquest: “She became an art teacher and worked at various schools, often hanging paintings on walls containing asbestos.”  He added: "She was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in July 2013 and I was with her when she collapsed and died at home."

Coroner Katy Skerrett said: “It is clear that there was sufficient exposure to asbestos in her occupation for me to reach a conclusion that this lady died from an industrial disease.”  The inquest heard how the deceased had chemotherapy treatment "which was palliative and eased the pain." 
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/teacher-died-cancer-caused-hanging-4929362

There is no cure for mesothelioma as yet. And because the killer disease works slowly, it is often detected too late for sufferers to undergo chemotherapy or benefit by surgery.

In the past we heard about asbestos-related diseases affecting miners, building workers, workers in ships and shipyards, women who made gas masks containing asbestos during the War, even wives washing their husbands' overalls filled with asbestos dust. But in more recent years we have started to learn that with asbestos present in more than three quarters of Britain's schools, teachers are a group at risk.
 
Carole Hagedorn, a foreign languages teacher from Essex, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in the Summer of 2008, after being exposed to asbestos during more than 30 years of working in schools.

CAROLE HAGEDORN    

'When, at the beginning of my career, I went into classrooms to teach year eights the perfect tense, I did not expect it to end with an industrial disease,'  she told the NAS-UWT Easter conference in 2009.

Following her diagnosis, Mrs Hagedorn had to give up teaching, and endured 18 weeks of chemotherapy. The average life expectancy from diagnosis is between six and 18 months, she said.
'I am understandably unhappy that the lack of proper asbestos control will end my life prematurely, like some sort of collateral damage or natural wastage in the education game,' she said.
Mrs Hagedorn warned: 'It is believed that a single fibre of asbestos may cause mesothelioma. There is no such thing as safe asbestos or a safe limit.

'Children are thought to be much more susceptible than adults, though we won't know for another 20 to 30 years how many will already have contracted this cancer from exposure in schools because of its long latency period.'

Mrs Hagedorn, who received a standing ovation after telling her story, called for a national risk assessment of asbestos in schools, and for it to be cleared as quickly as possible.The responsibility for protecting children and teachers lies wholly with government, she said.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1170584/Asbestos-schools-kill-pupils-warns-teacher-dying-lung-cancer.html#ixzz3PjM5dlz2

In 2012 it emerged that a planned year-long survey of England's 23,000 schools would examine every aspect of buildings – from classroom decoration to whether fire alarms and toilets were in working order – but would specifically exclude asbestos, the most serious threat of all to staff and pupils.
An internal Department for Education email,d,ated September 2011, said pressure to include asbestos in the assessment of the state of schools had to be resisted due to "cost implications and the fact that asbestos management should already be carried out under existing legal requirements".

Former teachers, mesothelioma sufferers and campaigners felt the government was playing down the dangers even though Department of Education advice urged teachers to avoid pinning things on walls for fear of disturbing asbestos, and to prevent children running in corridors, slamming doors etc - all  the boisterous activity that defies admonitions and discipline in any normal school.

Sarah Bowman, who had been diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2009, was convinced she had been  exposed to asbestos at school. Brent Council admitted that William Gladstone School, since demolished, contained asbestos, but claimed any connection was "highly unlikely".

"I was 41 when I was diagnosed, You can't tell someone they are going to die at 41. I'd never even heard of mesothelioma. I had heard of asbestos and knew it was no good for you, but I didn't know it killed you. When I was diagnosed my world blew apart, I felt very alone, very scared. They know there was asbestos in the school I went to. I'll take this as far as I can. I remember one time when a kid threw a chair and it stuck in the wall and we all laughed – but now I know it's enough to disturb the asbestos, just like putting drawing pins into the wall.

"I think the Government should be more honest about the risks. They should manage it correctly and label it so that everybody knows about it.  Asbestos is 'safe if it is managed correctly', but how can it be? Kids slam doors, that's what kids do, and that's enough to disturb asbestos."

"All of the schools that I've worked in have been of a certain age and have all had asbestos" said Carole Hagerdorn. "I've had no other career so I am convinced I was exposed at schools. The worst thing about it is the shock because you don't expect to get an industrial disease from working in a school; your life changes shape, becoming a round of treatments and operations.

"The Government has played down the risks over the years. The bottom line is that it is very expensive to remove asbestos, but there has to be a phased plan of removal; working out which are the worst schools and dealing with those first. There needs to be some kind of commitment from the Government."

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/asbestos-new-blow-to-victims-of-a-shameful-legacy-6296347.html

With local authorities forced to make cuts,  and many more schools removed from their control, it is blatantly obvious that government cannot shrug off its responsibility for doing something to remove asbestos from schools, and to make sure it is removed safely. Even if this goes against the grain of cuts to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), and what David Cameron calls"red tape".

Carole Hagedorn died in June last year, aged 63. It's possible her life had been extended five years by undergoing a pioneering treatment that uses a deactivated cold virus to kick-start the immune system ­enabling it to target and fight the cancer. Carole and her husband Vince had made the most of this time by travelling and enjoying life as best they could.  But they did not stop campaigning.  On Action Mesothelioma Day, July 4, Vince Hagedorn spoke in London on behalf of the Asbestos in Schools campaign, and released doves in honour of Carole and the other victims.

In September it was reported that Brent council had admitted liability for Sarah Bowman's exposure to asbestos while at school, and agreed to pay her  compensation. Ms. Bowman had had better news still. After successful removal of a tumour the medics had reported no cancerous cells remained. Sarah Bowman said she was hoping to return to work. But with her solicitors she will carry on pressing for the government to inspect all schools.
http://www.kilburntimes.co.uk/news/wembley_mother_exposed_to_asbestos_at_school_wins_payout_from_brent_council_1_3757910

Sandra Naylor was not so fortunate. In April 2013,  having been diagnosed with mesothelioma, she decided to sue her local council, but she died at the beginning of August 2014.As a child Sandra attended Calverdale High in Airdrie. Her solicitor said “The school had just been constructed when our client was a pupil there and for the first year or so she recalls workmen regularly working in the school. “It is believed that her exposure to the asbestos dust came from the work being undertaken by the workmen in various parts of the school whilst she was there as a pupil. She has no knowledge of any other asbestos exposure in her life.” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/woman-sue-council-after-contracting-1807383

   SANDRA NAYLOR, of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire.  Died of Mesothelioma last year

Whether Scottish ministers have been doing any better on schools asbestos than their counterparts in London is something that needs looking at.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/389985/Silent-killer-in-the-classroom

"Workmen discovered white and brown asbestos while carrying out roof repairs to Holyrood Secondary in Glasgow's South Side during the summer holidays. The work was completed on August 8, just five days before pupils returned to Glasgow's biggest high school after the summer break".

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/parents-horrified-over-asbestos-at-city-school-176863n.25087812

Of course it is not only teachers,or pupils, that are exposed to danger in schools.

“THE family of a former school cleaner who died after coming into contact with asbestos is hoping to track down her colleagues. Mrs Routledge had worked at the old Fulwell Infants School, in Sunderland, as a cleaner from 1963 until the 1990s.

It is believed that the source of the asbestos was an old coal-fired boiler, which is thought to have been lagged with the substance.”

http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/family-seek-mum-s-former-colleagues-after-asbestos-related-death-1-7001807

David Atkinson was a carpenter who may have been exposed to asbestos working on farm buildings or in a college.  He died of malignant mesothelioma.
 http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/Exposure-asbestos-led-death-Waltham-man/story-24517644-detail/story.html

On January 19, the issue was raised in Parliament.  


Asked by Helen Jones 19 January 2015 Teachers: Mesothelioma Commons221236

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of teachers and former teachers who have contracted mesothelioma from exposure to asbestos in schools.
Answered by: Mr David Laws 22 January 2015

The Department for Education is not aware of data that links the number of cases of mesothelioma contracted to occupation.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) produces statistics about the link between mesothelioma related deaths and occupation, which the Department uses to inform its policy. The HSE statistics are published online at: www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/mesothelioma/mortality-by-occupation-2002-2010.pdf

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-01-19/221236/

Michael Lees of the Asbestos in Schools campaign commented: "The Minister is being pedantic, and therefore has avoided stating that more than 291 school teachers have died of mesothelioma since 1980 and at least 158 have died in the last ten years.

"Presumably the Minister does not want to acknowledge a link between asbestos exposure at school and the subsequent deaths of teachers, support staff and former pupils. He presumably justifies his answer because HSE advise DfE that teachers are developing mesothelioma because they have been exposed elsewhere other than at school.

Some might have been, but there is extensive evidence of school teachers being exposed to asbestos at school, in some cases frequently and over a prolonged period of time. HSE do not investigate mesothelioma deaths and do not examine the evidence of asbestos exposure of teachers who have died of mesothelioma.

Whereas coroners do, and in many cases have given a verdict of death from industrial disease because of evidence of asbestos exposure at school.

See:  http://www.asbestosexposureschools.co.uk/pdfnewslinks

The government has been dragging its  heels about acknowledging the size of the asbestos in schools issue  and its tragic effects, let alone taking responsibility for tackling it.  But it now seems that relentless campaigning, growing public awareness, and perhaps the thought of an election coming, are having some effect.

Michael Lees reports:

Colleagues,

I am pleased to say that we have just heard DfE will be holding a meeting of the DfE Asbestos Steering Group on 3^rd or 5^th February “To share with you the findings of our review and discuss our proposals for our policy on the management of asbestos in schools in the future.”

I will attend along with other members of the Steering Group and will inform you of the outcome.

Best wishes

Michael

Canada in the Dock

WARNING SIGNS New badge alerts to Asbestos danger,
and (below) calcified Pleural Plaque, such as appear in
the lungs of people exposed to asbestos, and are
frequntly sign of mesothelioma to come.

ASBESTOS is one of those things we nowadays know is dangerous
(though some journalists purport to doubt it, I'd be curious to see whether they'd expose themselves to the risk to prove their point). Most of us probably assume that THEY (governments and people with responsibilty generally) are doing whatever they can to remove the danger.

On that we'd be mistaken.

At events last week for Mesothelioma Day, like the one I attended in London, we heard about people left exposed to the risk and often working without adequate protective gear, in countries like India and China. Canada was given a special mention, as a developed country whose government has taken steps against asbestos use at home but is willingly exporting the material.

On June 29, just one week before Action Mesothelioma Day (AMD) the Quebec Government announced that funding of $58 million had been provided for businessmen developing a new asbestos underground mine in the town of Asbestos, Quebec.

It so happened that organisers of the AMD event in MANCHESTER had invited Canadian Ban Asbestos Campaigner Kathleen Ruff to speak ( that is her in the centre of this clearly well-attended Manchester meeting). Kathleen explained the background to the Quebec provincial authorities' decision to hand over taxpayers' money for the asbestos scheme. Jason Addy reported that most of the delegates in Manchester were shocked by the news that the Province of Quebec was providing the bulk of the money for developing and operating the new mine. “It was interesting to see,” he said “how the initial response of surprise quickly became outrage as Kathleen explained the political machinations and financial tactics of Canadian asbestos stakeholders like Bernard Coulombe and Baljit Chadha.”

Knowing that most of Britain's asbestos fatalities had been exposed to Canadian asbestos, the people in Manchester were appalled at the thought that the lives of millions of people in developing countries would be endangered by Canadian asbestos for generations to come.

In LIVERPOOL, Laurie Kazan-Allen told the AMD meeting of the Cheshire and Merseyside Asbestos Victim Support Groups that Canada had run out of asbestos. " Instead of letting this toxic industry die a natural death, government funds have been injected into a financially-suspect and morally bankrupt scheme to construct new mining facilities in Quebec.” Naming names, she showed a photograph of Baljit Chadha, the man heading up the international consortium backing the Jeffrey Mine project and said:

“Let me conclude my remarks today by sending a message to Canada's asbestos businessmen; and I mean you Baljit Chadha and your investors, all of whom prefer to remain in the shadows. Be warned and be on your guard; the people of Merseyside and Cheshire are not done with you. We are as one when we say we will not allow you to profit while others die. You may have convinced Quebec's asbestos cabal to fund your dastardly project but that was just the first battle. The war over the new Jeffrey Asbestos Mine continues. This is NOT over!”

As a Salford lad with friends among the Liverpool dockers I know the amount of trade the North West used to have with Canada; and the strength the dockers used to have to act on behalf of working people on matters of principal, let alone when facing dangerous cargoes. We might reflect on how far we have all been set back by the way that strength was undermined. Hopefully my union, and the people of Merseyside and Cheshire, will see the advantage of muscle being regained.

As it is, our ability to act even through legal channels is being attacked. Once again we can see the link between health and safety and our democratic rights. As Laurie Kazan-Allen explains:

"From the discussions in Liverpool, it was crystal clear how important the assistance provided by teams at the Merseyside Asbestos Victim Support Group and the Cheshire Asbestos Victim Support Group had been to asbestos sufferers. Unfortunately, the existence of these and other UK groups has been put in jeopardy by impending reforms under The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill. With the country's asbestos epidemic in full swing, all attempts to curtail the essential work of these groups must be strenuously resisted."

Reports on AMD from:

http://ibasecretariat.org/lka-amd-2012.php

Taking Wing for Mesothelioma Victims

A FLOCK of white doves was released to mark Mesothelioma Action Day in Stratford, east London, yesterday, and to honour the memory of all those who had died from the asbestos-related disease.

Before releasing the doves, Eileen Beadle, whose husband Raymond died from mesothelioma, aged 56, had paid tribute to him and other victims, and we held a minutes silence in their honour.

Eileen, seen below in white blouse second from the right, speaking from the town hall steps, founded East London Mesothelioma Support group to link up and help families affected, and win wider recognition and understanding of their plight.

Mesothelioma, a form of cancer effecting the lining of organs such as the lungs, is caused by exposure to asbestos dust, sometimes even for short times. Workers in construction and other occupations using asbestos are most at risk, but there have been cases where it affected other people in buildings with the material, and even family members such as those washing a partner's overalls. It can take more than 30 years before symptoms appear, and so it is often difficult to prove responsibility of past employers even if these are traced. Insurance companies are naturally reluctant to pay compensation, and have even lobbied to prevent changes in the law that would make it easier to claim.

Following the dove release ceremony, there was a seminar sponsored by London Hazards Centre at which we heard from qualified professionals about developments in the law and in specialist nursing care for mesothelioma, which can now include counselling for terminally ill patients worried that their familes might not receive compensation or help after they are gone.

Trades unionists, incuding members of the Construction Safety Campaign, spoke about the continuing fight over asbestos and its effects, and the wider issue of attacks on health and safety issues at work.

ALLAN GRAVESON, of the ships' officers' union Nautilus International, said three friends of his had died from mesothelioma contracted through work with asbestos, such as when removing lagging from engine room pipes.
Warning that asbestos continued to be mined and used in China, Turkey and Canada -where a new mine had just been opened -Bro.Graveson said it was now often coming in to the country in disguised form, mixed with other materials.
A Turkish ship impounded at Rotterdam was found to have as many as 3,000 items containing asbestos. Dutch authorities had tested items in their laboratories. But here in the UK inspections were far less adequate.

During discussion it was noted that 70 per cent of schools in Britain were believed to contain asbestos, but the government, in line with other attacks on health and safety, had decided not to fund a national survey of schools for asbestos.

London Hazards Centre:
http://www.lhc.org.uk/

East London Mesothelioma Support:
http://www.elms-group.co.uk/

Michael Lees' site on Asbestos in Schools:
http://www.asbestosexposureschools.co.uk/

Duty of Care? They Don't Care.

SOME of the questions and discussion at the asbestos seminar I attended in Bart's hospital last year were above my head. These were seasoned campaigners and health service professionals as well as victims and relatives of victims attending the London Hazards Centre's event, on July 1.

But you didn't need to be an expert to be moved by Eileen Beadle's account of how she and her husband's plans for holidays, and looking forward to a happy active retirement, were shattered when he was taken to hospital, and died aged 54 from a painful asbestos-related condition. This had inspired her to seek out others affected, and form the East London Mesothelioma Society.

All you needed was to be a human being, unlike the two Tory pratts who had to be told to behave themselves at a mesothelioma event in the Commons in September.
('Tory 'schoolboys' disrupt asbestosis committee hearing'- Paddy McGuffin, Morning Star, September 16, 2011)

But what came as a shock to me, naievely thinking of asbestos as a problem in the building industry or factories working with the material, was when Carol Hagerdorn, the following speaker, introduced herself as a mesothelioma sufferer, and said she had been exposed to asbestos as a school teacher. As she pointed out asbestos had been used in many older schools and what were meant to be temporary classrooms, and could easily be exposed when children naturally engaged in boisterous behaviour. In one case she saw, lads bored waiting to use a pool table had poked holes in a false ceiling with their cues, unaware of what material lay above it!

Carol Hagerdorn said there needed to be a survey of schools so that authorities could take steps to remove asbestos wherever it was found.

Again, in my naievity, I had assumed that had already been done as soon as the dangers of
asbestos had been recognised, and that schools of all places would have been prioritised for its removal. We had the asbestos removers in at the block of flats where I live last year, and I know it is a tricky business, with what are like tunnels erected so it can be removed without contaminating the surroundings, and placed in a sealed skip for disposal. But if it can be done in a residential block then schools which are closed at the weekend and in evenings should be easier. They are meant to be safe places, to which parents can entrust their kids, assuming a duty of care from the authorities.

Sorry to go on about the obvious, but here's what the Independent reported this week:

The Government has deliberately excluded asbestos from an unprecedented review of the condition of the country's schools because it knows that tackling the risks to schoolchildren and teachers could cost hundreds of millions, critics claim.

Campaigners reacted with fury last night as it emerged a year-long survey of England's 23,000 schools will examine every aspect of buildings – from classroom decoration to whether fire alarms and toilets are in working order – but will specifically exclude asbestos, the most serious threat of all to staff and pupils.

An internal Department for Education email, seen by The Independent on Sunday, makes it clear that pressure to include asbestos in the assessment of the state of schools, which begins in April and will be used to inform future funding, had to be resisted due to "cost implications and the fact that asbestos management should already be carried out under existing legal requirements". The memo, dated September 2011, suggests that the survey programme "might well be able to provide some prompts and checks on that wider process, however".

The costs – and risks – of removing asbestos mean that authorities have to strike a delicate balance in managing it, and current policy is against removal for its own sake.

Critics claim the Government's attitude to the deadly disease is highlighted by comments that Nick Gibb, the Schools minister, is said to have made to asbestos campaigners three years ago. Referring to the potential costs of dealing with asbestos, at a meeting in the Commons, he is alleged to have remarked: "You are telling me that I will have to cripple the education budget to save the lives of a few thousand middle-aged people."

Mr Gibb, an opposition MP at the time of the 2009 meeting, denied the claims yesterday: "It is totally absurd to suggest that I said these things. It is not my view and has never been my view – my view is that the health and welfare of pupils and staff is absolutely paramount and should never be jeopardised."

The scale of the challenge is vast. Most of Britain's schools contain asbestos – more than 75 per cent, according to government estimates. Britain imported hundreds of thousands of tons of asbestos in the last century, when it was routinely used in construction for its fire-retardant and insulating properties. Although it was banned in 1999, a deadly legacy remains. Exposure to tiny amounts of the fibres can result in a number of diseases, some of which – like mesothelioma, a form of cancer – are fatal. Others, such as asbestosis, which permanently scars the lungs and makes it hard to breathe, have a severe impact on health.

Not everyone exposed to asbestos becomes ill, but it can take several decades for symptoms to appear.

There has been a 15-fold rise in mesothelioma deaths in Britain since 1967, with more than 2,300 in 2009 (men accounted for 83 per cent). The annual death toll from asbestos-related diseases in Britain alone is expected to be at least 5,000 by 2015.

More than 228 teachers have died of mesothelioma since 1980, according to the campaign group Asbestos in Schools, who, citing US government research, believe a further nine children will die for every teacher dying from the disease, resulting in more than 2,000 deaths of children in adulthood.

The Government admits that no national picture of asbestos in schools or the costs of dealing with it exists. It says responsibility lies with local authorities and schools. Strict controls have been in force for decades and government policy is for schools to manage asbestos – for instance, by sealing it with silicone – rather than remove it. But banging doors or bumping into walls can be enough to disturb it, and earlier this month the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) warned that school staff "should be instructed not to disturb or damage asbestos-containing materials, for example, by pinning work to walls".

The Government argues a national audit is unnecessary as the problem is dealt with locally. Despite this, it spent £4.5m on an audit of asbestos in Northern Ireland schools in 2003/04. The following year, £3.8m was allocated to pay for its removal in "top priority" cases. England has 19 times as many schools, meaning a similar exercise would cost at least £153m.

In a statement, the Department for Education said asbestos was excluded from the upcoming property surveys because any assessment could not "substitute for local asbestos surveys already required by the Control of Asbestos Regulations".

But education unions argue this policy is not matched in practice. Chris Keates, head of the NASUWT, the largest teachers' union, accused ministers of "reckless buck-passing", adding: "Local authorities have been stripped of the resources ... needed to carry out these responsibilities. While the Government behaves like Pontius Pilate, washing its hands of responsibility, the health of children and the workforce is being put at risk."

Echoing concerns over shrinking budgets, Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "Local authorities really haven't got the resources to take the lead on this, and schools haven't got the skills, and that only leaves central government to sort it out."

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: "The HSE is ... clear that if asbestos is not disturbed or damaged, it is safer to leave it in situ, with robust processes in place to contain and monitor it. We are working hard with the HSE to make sure asbestos is managed properly in schools, and will not hesitate to take tough action where there is danger to the welfare of pupils and staff."

But Mary Bousted, of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, warned that asbestos is "poorly managed in many schools", while Christine Blower, head of the National Union of Teachers, accused successive governments of "dragging their feet". She said pupils and teachers across the country "are daily put at risk of developing asbestos-related diseases as a result of inaction from politicians".

Schools do not have to tell people if they have asbestos, or routinely report the condition it is in. Nor do they have to remove asbestos during refurbishment, according to the HSE. Inspections of 164 schools outside local authority control, including private schools, church schools and academies, in 2010/11, found one in seven to be "below acceptable standards". And of 42 local authorities in England investigated by the HSE in 2009, a quarter received formal warnings.

The paper also quoted a few individual cases:

Susan Langthorp, 58

"I wanted to be a vet or a doctor when I was a little girl. I never thought years later I would be dying from a disease caused by going to school. I was numb when I was told in 2009 I was suffering from an asbestos-related disease. To my knowledge, I have never breathed in any dust or anything like that. I had heard of school buildings containing asbestos and found out it was in the schools I went to. I feel angry ... I fear I won't see my children married or my grandchildren. It's criminal to have asbestos in a public place where there are young children."

Sarah Bowman, 43

Ms Bowman, from London, was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2009. She claims she was exposed to asbestos at school. Brent Council admits that William Gladstone School, since demolished, contained asbestos, but claims any connection is "highly unlikely".

"I was 41 when I was diagnosed, You can't tell someone they are going to die at 41. I'd never even heard of mesothelioma. I had heard of asbestos and knew it was no good for you, but I didn't know it killed you. When I was diagnosed my world blew apart, I felt very alone, very scared. They know there was asbestos in the school I went to. I'll take this as far as I can. I remember one time when a kid threw a chair and it stuck in the wall and we all laughed – but now I know it's enough to disturb the asbestos, just like putting drawing pins into the wall.

"I think the Government should be more honest about the risks. They should manage it correctly and label it so that everybody knows about it.

"Asbestos is 'safe if it is managed correctly', but how can it be? Kids slam doors, that's what kids do, and that's enough to disturb asbestos."

Carole Hagedorn, 61

Ms Hagedorn lives in Chelmsford, Essex. After decades of teaching, she was forced to retire early when diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2008.

"All of the schools that I've worked in have been of a certain age and have all had asbestos. I've had no other career so I am convinced I was exposed at schools. The worst thing about it is the shock because you don't expect to get an industrial disease from working in a school; your life changes shape, becoming a round of treatments and operations.

"The Government has played down the risks over the years. The bottom line is that it is very expensive to remove asbestos, but there has to be a phased plan of removal; working out which are the worst schools and dealing with those first. There needs to be some kind of commitment from the Government.

"I feel like I'm collateral damage, and I will not be the last – there will be more. Far too many schools are failing to manage their asbestos and are putting the lives of staff and children at risk."

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/asbestos-new-blow-to-victims-of-a-shameful-legacy-6296347.html

http://www.lhc.org.uk/http:/www.lhc.org.uk/asbestos-in-schools-new-blow

http://www.lhc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/London-Hazards-102.pdf

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2011/12/06/mesothelioma-victims-take-fight-for-compensation-to-the-supreme-court-92534-29900776/

Like I say, I had always associated asbestos issues with the building industry. Maybe that is because building workers I know have been among those campaigning on the issue, and coupled with the high number of serious and often fatal accidents on sites, it is one of the things motivating the Construction Safety Campaign (CSC).

CSC has been to the fore in organising a march each year in London on International Workers' Memorial Day, April 28. Maybe this year it would not be a bad idea for teaching union members and come to that school students and parents to join the march?

No Minister!

Meanwhile Tory Education Secretary Michael Gove, the man who considered it his business to send Bibles to schools, with his own introduction, and is busy removing vocational subjects from school exam league tables while proclaiming that schools should be "free", has taken a dim view of parents who, promised their say, have said things he does not like.

"When Mr Gove was asked about a campaign against turning Downhills Primary School in north London into an academy, he accused the protesters of being linked to the Socialist Workers Party - and described them as the "enemies of promise". "It's a pity that the Labour party hasn't spoken out against this Trot campaign," ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-16809400

Oh dear! Just can't the lower orders under control these days!

Let's give Mr.Gove a real dose of the "Trots" and get him and his government running.

Once Again, the Price of Coal

POLICE and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are to investigate the disaster at the Gliesion colliery in the Swansea Valley. Four men were killed - Charles Breslin, 62, David Powell, 50, Philip Hill, 45, and Garry Jenkins, 30. They were trapped deep undergound as water flooded the shaft where they were working, on Thursday morning.

Three others, including David Powell's son Daniel, managed to get out and raise the alarm. But the mission to rescue the trapped miners ended up as recovery of their bodies. Specialist mine inspectors were at the pit yesterday to work with police.

Mining is a dangerous industry throughout the world, and Thatcher's reduction of Britain's coal industry to a bare remnant of its past has not ended the dangers, even if it has reduced the scale of disasters. Wales has a poud mining tradition, but has also had more than its share of tragedy, which these four men now join.

Melvyn Bragg, in his BBC series on film recently had an episode called Black Diamonds, recalling the 1934 Gresford Disaster, when 266 men died in an underground explosion and fire. Because the workers had only completed three quarters of their shift when it happened the company docked their last wages by the appropriate amount.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00jv72t

It has not only been the miners themselves who perished, nor was state ownership enough to ensure safety came first. In 1966 a coal waste tip and tons of slurry slipped down the mountain side at Aberfan, destroying homes, engulfing the village school and killing 144 people, including 116 children and five of their teachers. "Buried alive by the NCB!" cried a man at the inquest, referring to the National Coal Board. The official inquiry verdict spoke of "men charged with tasks for which they were totally unfitted, of failure to heed clear warnings, and of total lack of direction from above".

What is left of the mining industry since the Thatcher years, a scattered mixture of size and ownership, has been having a little boom as world demand for coal for power raises prices despite the low-carbon talk. The privately-owned Gleision colliery had been in and out of mothballs and different hands, over the years, but was recently producing about 250 tonnes a week of anthracite, a "smokeless" hard and relatively clean coal burned in local boilers.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is worried that these privately-controlled facilities, which barely employ more than a dozen workers at any one time, operate largely "under the radar" of mine inspectors – if only because they are usually situated on remote hillsides.

Chris Kitchen, general secretary of the NUM, said: "We have grave concerns about safety standards in these kinds of mines. We fear that safety is often set at minimum standards so that costs can be kept down. They are not generally unionised or easily visited by inspectors."

Large mines, such as the five remaining deep underground mines which employ hundreds of workers, tend to operate under safety standards established when the industry was nationalised, up to 1995. But the big collieries such as Kellingley in Yorkshire will typically have teams of dedicated fire and safety officers, surveyors and ventilation staff whose job it is to alert the owner and workforce to any problems, says Kitchen. "You are not going to have that kind of thing in a small drift mine that employs nine people."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/sep/16/welsh-mine-miners-died-num-concerns?intcmp=239

The rush of water into the shaft at Gleision is thought to have come when the roof over the miners' heads gave way. releasing a deluge from an old flooded mine-working above. The roof could have been literally undermined by blasting and removing coal, or held up by undersized props, or it may have deteriorated over time. A spokeswoman for the HSE said the inspectorate's records showed no enforcement notices on the colliery, which was due an inspection later this year.

But an inquiry will focus on what information the management of the colliery had about existing and disused mine workings in the vicinity. The Lofthouse disaster in West Yorkshire in 1973 when seven miners were trapped led to a code of practice to try to ensure no further cases of a dangerous inrush of water.

The law requires managers to employ a surveyor whose job it is to provide maps of nearby workings so miners can work a safe distance from them. The HSE has specific regulations making it the duty of the mine owner and manager to obtain all available information about nearby workings from the Coal Authority, where mine abandonment plans are filed, and to ensure that water inrushes do not happen.

The regulations state that mining should not be carried out within 45 metres in any direction, of a layer of rock containing water, or any disused workings that are not linked to mines. Nor are miners supposed to work in tunnels within 37 metres of any disused mine workings. The major mines in the country would have detailed archives and mine plans that would ensure that modern shafts and workings steer clear of previously-worked areas. Records of old mines are not always reliable or adequate. Private mining companies early in the last century did not always file them.

Nevertheless, mining companies today are supposed to take care, and if they are entering areas of old workings. to inform the HSE. The NUM will want to know whether Gleision;s owners did everything they could to observe the regulations and code of practice. The investigation into the tragedy at Gleision could take months to complete as the mine safety inspectors piece together what happened.

We have yet to see any suggestion that the government might take this tragedy seriously enough to reconsider plans to cut down on the HSE. But just for now perhaps the press will suspend its treatment of Health and Safety as a joke, and we might stop hearing old chestnuts about children playing conkers being required to wear goggles.

Though I would not count on it.

Mid-Term Merriment about Mesothelioma

A support group for asbestosis sufferers has condemned the behaviour of two Tory MPs during a committee debate on legal aid. The group, which attended a hearing of the public bill committee this week to hear a debate on the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Prosecution of Offenders Bill, said that Conservative MPs Ben Wallace and Ben Gummer had behaved like "rowdy public schoolboys" and displayed "contempt" for working people.

The Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum said it was shocked at the behaviour of the two MPs when Kate Green MP was speaking about the effect of the Bill on asbestos victims dying from mesothelioma, citing the suffering of her own constituents.

Under the proposed legislation those who have suffered work-related illness or injury and seek compensation would be responsible for success fees which are to be capped at 25 per cent of damages. Campaigners argue that, without the alternative of legal aid, claimants are returned to a worse position than prior to 2000 when legal aid for such cases was scrapped.

The Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum said its research suggests that many mesothelioma sufferers, defeated by illness, will never make a claim because of the additional stress and the financial risk they will face.

Jim Sheridan MP, chairman of the public bill committee, was apparently forced to rebuke Mr Wallace and Mr Gummer for disrupting the proceedings.

From 'Tory 'schoolboys' disrupt asbestosis committee hearing'- Paddy McGuffin, Morning Star, September 16

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/109618

Action on Asbestos

LEIGH CARLISLE
(left)
and (right)
Asbestos campaigners from Manchester, in
London to lobby
for justice.






THERE was a bunch of determined people down in the City of London on Tuesday. Some arrived dressed up as City 'fat cats' (sorry I missed that bit)to draw attention. Later they took tea in the Grange St.Paul's Hotel. But they had not come for fun, and nor were they going to be fobbed off with tea and sympathy.

The members of the Asbestos Victims Support Group from Greater Manchester had come to lobby the Annual General Meeting of the Association of British Insurers. They were protesting the continued failure to compensate asbestos victims and their families. Their protest was supported by members of the Construction Safety Campaign in London.

Building workers have been among the main sufferers from asbestos-related illnesses and deaths. But because symptoms may develop over many years, during which a worker may have worked for several employers, or for sub-contractors, it can be difficult to pin responsibility. Firms may have changed names or gone out of business.

Pleural plaques, scarring of the lungs caused by small fibres, usually asbestos, can develop up to twenty years after exposure. They may be the first indication of what becomes mesothelioma, a painful and deadly cancer which attacks the membrane covering the lungs and abdomen.

Last year UCATT, the construction union, had members and supporters send cards to Justice Secretary Jack Straw over the Law Lords judgement that pleural plaques were not eligible for compensation. Straw replied that the government was "looking into" this, but that in view of the strength of the Law Lords' findings "I do not want to raise hopes in the matter..."; although going on to say that the government were "listening carefully to representations" and "exploring options" on what could be done.

When the Scottish parliament passed a bill overturning the Lords' decision, the insurance companies promptly said they would challenge the legality of this.
http://www.out-law.com/page-9970

But asbestos sufferers and victims can come in many shapes and sizes. There were the women employed making World War II gas masks which contained an asbestos filter in Nottingham, many of whom did not live to see the compensation for which they fought. There were the women in Hebden Bridge who contracted mesothelioma from washing their husbands overalls - the men worked for Turner and Newalls, and of course many of them were victims. There was Barry Welch, who developed fatal mesothelioma thirty years after playing as a boy on his father's knee, when Dad came home from his work at Kingsnorth power station, in Kent, where the pipes were lagged with asbestos.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1505484/Boy-contracted-fatal-asbestosis-playing-on-his-fathers-knee.html

Mr.Welch, whose mesothelioma showed in 2003, died the following year, aged 33, and was rated the youngest victim. But last year that record was taken by Leigh Carlisle, from Failsworth, in Greater Manchester. Leigh had a job in marketing, not what you'd think of as a dangerous occupation. Her exposure came when she was a child:
"I used to take a shortcut across a yard in Failsworth on my way to primary school. I knew that men working there cut asbestos sheets and handled asbestos materials in the yard, but I had no idea that by walking through the yard I could have inadvertently got cancer."
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1064781_tragic_leigh_youngest_asbestos_victim

Leigh was just 26 when doctors who had been investigating her chronic and severe abdominal pains diagnosed the cause as mesothelioma.Though she had to give up her job, she started campaigning for recognition of the disease and its causes, and for an investigation into asbestos use in schools built in the 1960s and 1970s. People were impressed by her courage and determination. Had Leigh Carlisle been able to support Tuesday's demonstration she'd most likely have been there. But she died last year aged just 28 in North Manchester Genral Hospital.

A survey reported in the Manchester Evening News found asbestos in 8 out of 10 schools in the Greater Manchester area. Meanwhile, UCATT has told the government that there are insufficient regulations on the use of asbestos in housing.

It took decades after the dangers of asbestos became known for the industry to acknowledge them. It is taking a long time for companies and insurers to face responsibility. Tuesday's lobby had a modest and reasonable demand - that an Employers' Liability Insurance Bureau be set up, paid for through insurance premiums. Tis would ensure that those killed or injured by uninsured employers have the same right to obtain compensation as people injured or killed by uninsured drivers, who can claim from the Motor Insurers Bureau..

Above all, campaigners want insurers and employers to stop playing for time so that asbestos victims die before they can win compensation. They want society to recognise its duty to those suffering and likely to suffer, and to eradicate remaining dangers of asbestos. Last month they petitioned parliament for government funding to research mesothelioma, said to be the least researched cancer. At present 6 people a day in Britain die from the disease, and it is the fastest growing cancer among women. It is estimated some 70,000 people could die from mesothelioma in this country over the next 30-40 years.
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/britain/asbestos_campaigners_to_present_22_000_strong_petition_to_no_10

Greater Manchester Asbestos Victims Support Group is being hosted at Manchester Hazards Centre. See:
http://www.hazardscampaign.org.uk/docs/gmavsgrelease.htm