Posted By dave marshall you arent on your own with the rant the media strikes again eh??? i totaly agree with you. ignorant.... yet again

Posted By stephen d clarke Hi, I didn't see the programme but guessed it would be as described above full of hype. The fact of the matter is any building domestic or work pre 2001 could and probably does contain asbestos, if you have put a shelf up you've probably been exposed, what about all the increasing DIY/home refurbishment TV progs over the last 10 years how many exposed people, most of the population. I agree about the difficulties of providing training to teaching staff, although I would in no way blame them, being married to a teacher and having worked as a teacher 20 years ago I know the immense pressures such staff are under. I do not agree with the comments about all LAs, from my personnel experience working for a county council they have very robust asbestos management arrangements. In fact the council I worked for had excellent control of asbestos back in 1986 as I found out when I had to investigate concerns staff raised about an asbestos incident from then. A search in the archives revealed just how good the control had been. Steve

Posted By Paul Leadbetter If you haven't seen the programme, go here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ipl...Out_England_25_03_2009/. It is the first 10 minute item. Paul

Posted By Bill Herring I find Warren's comment quite offensive. He deems fit to comment on a programme he hasn't watched, question LA's safety advisers competence and service they provide schools, all in one misguided paragraph. The whole problem with programmes like these is that they do not research fully the issues and come up with sensationalist headlines. Perhaps Warren should take note.

Posted By Garry Mcglaid Thanks for the link Paul, It was much appreciated. And thanks Brenda for highlighting the programme not aired in Scotland (We can only handle so much Matthew Wright) I was about to mention the comment about the taped up asbestos, in fact i sat open mouthed at the comment, however Ron has voiced the concerns very eloquently. I shall attempt "probably without success" now to play devils advocate. I come from a Construction Management background, and dealt with all the major local authorities. First thing i wish to express, from my own experiences, Warren does indeed have a point. I have found the local authorities Health and Safety advisory employees to not be as stringent. Indeed many years ago when i sat my Nebosh general it mostly consisted of LA health & Safety advisors who did not wish to be there. And if i may be Frank, it spoiled my enjoyment and my experience on the course. In further roles dealing with major LAs, i found the asbestos reports i requested were nothing more than a paper chase, whenever i asked for further information i was met with a vacant expression. I have indeed instructed some of our teams to leave jobs as i was not comfortable with the plans in place. Indeed it cost my company work and future tenders much to my MDs distress, however i could sleep at night, and he knew it was the right thing to do (a good employer). Thats just an observation from experience and situations, i do not infer all LA professionals to be of that ilk, so please dont shoot me down. As stated earlier, i come from a construction background, and i know for a fact i have been exposed to asbestos, i know this for a fact. I left construction management about 10 years ago as i had found a new vocation, Health & Safety, (Well no one goes to school and tells teacher they want to be a H&S advisor) In my opinion, managing asbestos is the best policy, if managed properly, However, within most situations of the situations that were highlighted, and in most other sectors, in reality its total bunkum. I am now employed within a different sector from construction, the lack of knowledge is disturbing. I have highlighted my concerns On every level, but it is still open to abuse on a daily basis. I have now enforced an asbestos management policy with excellent support from my management, but i still find the asbestos knowledge outwith construction to be almost negligent My wife is a teacher, i have bored her till she can take no more on the exposure of asbestos in schools, indeed she is now the asbestos police in her school. But i do believe it is indeed a huge problem. I was about to thank Matthew Wright for highlighting the problem, but i shant go that far. I shall thank Brenda instead, many thanks Garry

Posted By Paul Durkin Hi All, Having now seen the programme which seems a repeat of something I have seen before, obviously like ‘The Fun Police’, the media sensationalises H&S, showing our profession in as bad a light as possible. So why do we attack ourselves? Like Bill, I found the derogatory comments about our colleagues quite offensive and unnecessary.I have worked both in industry and LAs for over 20 years each The asbestos question will always test us, however, having worked in the analysis, sampling, clearance and inspection of the material for many years, I agree with the HSEs policy of where possible manage rather than remove. The remove brigade should remember that even the best removal techniques could replace a 0.01 fibres/ml with 0.01 fibres/ml of asbestos fibres. A simple calculation of how many ml in a room of 10cum estimates how many potential asbestos fibres that represents. Having said that, there is an undoubted problem in CLASP ,system built schools without the hysteria of drawing pin asbestos fibre extraction. Regards,Paul.