Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Asbestos has been found in the debris at Nairn Academy

Highland Council admit asbestos contamination!

'Air and dust sampling in the affected area has identified no evidence of asbestos within the air space but asbestos has been found in flakes of artex debris on the floor. The presence of asbestos in artex is known but presents a low risk to health.'

'The Council has advised the Health and Safety Executive of the incident and of its plans to deal with the contamination. '

The full press release:

Nairn Academy Update (03/03/09)

Pupils in secondary 4, 5 and 6 will return to Nairn Academy tomorrow (Wednesday) as the clean up continues after dust and debris were found in the upper floor of the school following weekend roof works.
Secondary 3 pupils will return on Thursday and Secondary 2 pupils on Friday.


Due to the extent and nature of the debris, it is likely that the maths and computing rooms will remain out of commission for the next three or four weeks.

Arrangements for schooling next week will be confirmed later in the week.

The school was closed to all pupils at noon on Monday after debris was found in the maths and computing classrooms and upper floor concourse.

Contractors had been working at the weekend on preparing the roof for the installation of 24 solar panels. The vibration of the works resulted in damage to the ceiling and the release of dust and debris.

Air and dust sampling in the affected area has identified no evidence of asbestos within the air space but asbestos has been found in flakes of artex debris on the floor. The presence of asbestos in artex is known but presents a low risk to health.

Discussions are ongoing within the school to determine a clean-up programme which minimises disruption to the working of the school.

The Council has advised the Health and Safety Executive of the incident and of its plans to deal with the contamination.

6 comments:

Nairn said...

The asbestos issue at Nairn Academy is not going to go away unless all the material is physically removed. Such is the danger posed the Irish government made the removal of all asbestos in schools a priority.
This web site makes for sober reading:
http://tr.im/gYL2
but total removal is the only way of making Nairn Academy safe for both staff and pupils.
I very much doubt that Highland Council will want to foot the bill to do this and instead will try to patch up loose material.
Sharp eyed staff may have spotted obvious traces this week, but how many will be able to see asbestos dust particles the next time they are dislodged and are floating in the air?

Anonymous said...

No Student of teacher should be allowed back in that school until every piece of Asbestos is removed

Anonymous said...

There is no requirement to remove the traces of the low risk contaminent within the Artex - Get a grip..! the Artex is not full of asbestos (chrysolite) merely above average in fibre count!

The removal of the Artex material would pose a greater risk.

And be aware! Asbestos fibres are present in all the "air" that we breath...!

Graisg said...

This wikipedia page contains information on Asbestos in Artex and links to pages that contain information or discuss the possible dangers. Included are links to UK government information.

dr-grigor said...

It would also be assuring to know,
did the contractors involved in the dislodging of the materiel do a full risk assesment first?

Were they aware of the asbestos problem ?
if so what precautions did they take ?

Anonymous said...

From experiance - even where risk assesments are fully carried out and "really good method statements"
are recieved all it takes is for the contractors operatives to deviate from the method statement and you have an incident!