FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

UK Schools Have High Levels of Asbestos That Put Teachers, Staff and Students At Risk

TBA

Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

According to a report in the British Asbestos Newsletter, asbestos is still common in the nations’ schools. The report highlighted the risk to children and especially to the teachers. The risk to teachers was tied to reports of asbestos related cancer, mesothelioma, in teachers and other full time school staff. It states that between 1991 and 2000, 145 teachers and full time school staff died from this form of asbestos related cancer. This is likely to bring out a liability and compensation issue in the future that councils may need to address.

It has been 20 years since The Department of Education advised schools to identify asbestos in schools and then manage it. Since 2004, each school needs to have an asbestos management plan. According to a study in the Northeast conducted by The Journal newspaper, over 90% of schools had identified some form of asbestos in their facilities. This level of asbestos in schools needs professional monitoring, testing containment and remediation.

Also, even when the asbestos has been identified in a school, that is no insurance that the asbestos will not be disturbed. A case in point, in January 2007, workmen disturbed an identified area of asbestos in the Westacre Middle School in Worcestershire during renovations. The school was temporarily closed and students re-housed in other facilities. This situation incurred significant costs for relocation of students, removal of the asbestos, as well as damage to the goodwill of parents.

Buyers Guide can be a part of the solution for asbestos related issues for Schools and Councils. Buyers Guide was established in 1996 and has supported asbestos related companies selling to the public sector from it’s first year. Today there are eight asbestos related categories that government procurement officers can choose that direct them to companies that do specific services nationally or in their region. The asbestos service categories include; asbestos consulting, asbestos testing, asbestos disposal, asbestos encapsulation, asbestos equipment, asbestos management, asbestos recruitment, asbestos removal, asbestos sampling, asbestos software, asbestos surveys and asbestos training.

Over 200 companies are listed on the Buyers Guide website, www.buyersguide.co.uk, related to asbestos services. These companies range from family businesses to multinationals, but all have the goal of working on public sector contracts. These include working on ministry of defence building and facilities, NHS facilities, schools, council building, landfills, brown field site regeneration, utility buildings and housing estates.

The advantage that buyers guide offers is that the company “profile” on the www.buyersguide.co.uk website is written to specifically answer the pre-qualification questions from public sector buyers. This usually includes information like; previous work with other government bodies, years in business, industry qualifications or certifications like ISO 9002, testimonials from clients, government awards like investors in people, confirmation of equal opportunity employer status and specific contact details.

The Buyers Guide “profile” system allows government procurement specialists to quickly find companies that have government experience, the pre-qualification standards and a willingness to work with the public sector in one place saving time, effort and ultimately money.

Contact:

Buyers Guide
0191 260 5388
0191 221 2287
info@buyersguide.co.uk
www.buyersguide.co.uk

Company History

Buyers Guide, based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, was established in 1996 and is the leading online directory of UK companies that are targeting the £600 billion in public spending each year. To date, there are over 5,000 company listings in 1,200 categories on the www.buyersguide.co.uk website.