http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16847575 "More than 140 teachers have died from the rare asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma in the past 10 years" "Researchers in the US found that for every death of a teacher from asbestos-related diseases, nine children will die" "According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), inhaling asbestos is the single greatest cause of work-related deaths in the UK - accounting for 4,000 deaths per year."

I agree that more needs to be done. That said I do not advocate removing it all entirely. Some buildings would require major refurbishment or even demolition to fully eradicate the asbestos present in building fabrics. It may lurk in places that would only be exposed when carrying out a refurbishent/ demolition survey. The would surely impact on school budget provision, maybe not directly, but it will ultimately have some effect on the education of our children. Remember we are dealing with ruthless politicians and/ or government here. Local authorities need to improve their understanding of asbestos issues and their duty of care. My local authority was found wanting when I (as a member of the public) pointed out that asbestos containing material was present in a badly managed state in a link corridor of a P.E. department of one of their schools. Oh that's being dealt with they said. No it's not I said. Cue phone call to the enforcing authority. Even they didn't seem that bothered. I kept on the case though, but it took a number of weeks for them to act (2 or 3 hours work, that's all). That aside it pointed to a management plan not being followed even though Regulation 4 of CAR2006 clearly states that it is the law.

Having now read the SHP online article all I would add is that the cynic in me thinks that all the 'inspections' available will in no way improve the actions that they go on to recommend. It is action, that's physical action, that is needed. That means people being made aware of their duties and duties being used to implement robust 'action'. Not just ticking boxes or form filling, mind. It is people and not just systems that need jolting into life.

I undertook one of my post-grad dissertations on asbestos and learnt so much, both from here and abroad. I actually gave a talk on behalf of The Royal College of Surgeons following the death of a teacher in the small village where I live a few years ago. I then offered my services (for free) to numerous companies that had previously had enforcement action taken against then. This was a full day on asbestos, certificated through the consultancy I work for. NB. Not one of over 100 companies were interested? We did have full participation on the courses from other interested companies. But it was concerning that since then two invited companies, who were not interested, have been prosecuted for asbestos related issues and that training was an issue in both cases? You can lead a horse to water……………………