Referring to studies being done to find locations where asbestos was used, a Dunbarton Council spokesperson said:
"We are again finding asbestos we didn’t know about. That rings alarm bells for me. I’d like to know the costs of the studies we are doing at the moment and if they are extensive enough because it appears to me they are not."
He revealed that:
"The school was built in 1962 and the asbestos was deliberately brought in as part of rubble to be put in as foundations."
According to some studies asbestos is thought to be in virtually every school constructed between 1950 and 2000 and in a variety of other buildings. It was used to lag steam pipework, as partitioning in classrooms or prefabricated classrooms, in ceiling tiles and outside corrugated roofing. Asbestos in schools is known to have caused mesothelioma in past pupils and teachers. Fieldfisher have acted for and are acting for a number of clients who were exposed to asbestos in schools. Peter Williams is acting for the Widower of a teacher exposed to asbestos in the 1980s whilst electricians worked in ceiling voids disturbing asbestos material which fell through open hatches into classrooms and common areas.
He says:
"Schools and local authorities are having to deal with the legacy of deteriorating asbestos materials in schools especially those built in the 1950s and 1960s. Identification, safe encapsulation and where necessary safe removal of asbestos is vital to make sure that generations to come are not put in danger."