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Fit-note system to come into force this spring
Yet another example of the Government spotting a real problem and then passing legislation intended to cure it and making a hugely worse problem. Why does this continually happen-because they consult

Research/reports: Trust in turbines
To put this in perspective you should read and then print a critical review of the above written by real medical doctors, one being our very own Dr Chris Hanning. He and his colleagues were not commis

Fit-note system to come into force this spring
Where does it say that employers "HAVE to do a risk assessment" on someone returning to work. This may well be the implied outcome of a return-to-work interview and appropriate pastoral care, but the

Guidance: The role of asbestos surveys
Is P402 accreditation deemed sufficient when coupled with an appropriate level and amount of experience?

Fit-note system to come into force this spring
It made me laugh, when I thought about a visit to the hospital last year and a sign read: 'If you are suffering from flu symptoms go home immdediately'.

Fit-note system to come into force this spring
This has not been thought through. There is a possibility of companies with massively compromised workforces, people still at work but not functioning well. Many will hang on at work, especially if

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Union demands school asbestos audit 21/02/2008

A teachers’ union is urging the Government to use the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme to rid all UK schools of asbestos.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) will ask members at its annual conference, due to be held in Torquay in March, to support a demand that the Government conducts a survey of all educational establishments to determine whether asbestos is present. The union is also pushing the Government to ensure that all asbestos is removed by 2010 – by firms licensed under the Asbestos (Licensing) Regulations.

Asbestos was used as a building material in new and refurbished schools for more than 30 years after the end of the Second World War. Exposure to the substance can cause the fatal disease mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis, which is fatal or highly debilitating.

ATL general secretary, Dr Mary Bousted, said: “There is still too little information about asbestos. We don’t know how many schools still contain asbestos, so most teachers have little idea of whether they, or their pupils, are being exposed to it. Schools should keep and maintain asbestos registers to record the locations and condition of any asbestos, and let staff know.”

The union believes the Building Schools for the Future initiative, which aims to rebuild or renew nearly every secondary school in England by 2020, could provide the political impetus to eradicate asbestos from the nation’s schools, once and for all.

“The Building Schools for the Future programme should provide the ideal opportunity to tackle this problem and ensure asbestos is removed from all UK schools,” argued Bousted. “The health of thousands of young people and those working in education are far too precious to allow this to be swept under the carpet any longer.”

HSE figures show 182 people working in education died in Great Britain between 1980 and 2000 from mesothelioma alone – 138 men and 44 women.



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