Asbestos RSS feed for the Asbestos tag
found 16 stories.
News
Chris Henwood B'ham Mail 16 Nov 10
The widow of a Pelsall carpenter and keen athlete who died after being exposed to asbestos has launched a search for his ex-workmates who could help in her battle for justice.
Fred Chapman, from Pelsall, near Walsall, died in February last year aged 69. He had been a member of Birchfield Harriers for nearly 30 years, taking part in marathons and half-marathons, but was diagnosed with mesothelioma – an incurable asbestos-related cancer of the chest – in October 2007…
News
Express & Star 16 Jul 10
A man who dumped asbestos by the side of a road in the Black Country has been warned he faces jail. Traveller Lawrence Rooney, aged 21, from Willenhall, off-loaded the dangerous material from a van in Murdoch Road, Bilston.
Surveillance cameras also caught the father-of-two dumping timber and conifer clippings at the same spot, Wolverhampton Magistrates Court heard yesterday…
News
Express & Star 1 Mar 10
Bulldozers will move in to knock down Coseley Baths this week, reducing the building to rubble after more than four decades. Workmen at Birmingham-based Coleman & Co, the firm appointed to demolish the Pear Tree Lane pool, will step up the pace of the project after removing fittings and asbestos…
News
Adam Lumley The YamYam 19 Feb 10
Both swimming pools at a popular council run leisure centre in Walsall Wood will close on Monday following the discovery of materials containing asbestos in the boiler room.
As part of a survey conducted ahead of an upgrade to the fire alarm and emergency lighting systems, the dangerous material was found to be present and in a decaying condition. Exposure to air borne asbestos particles can result in a form of cancer known as mesothelioma. The disease affects the lining of the lungs and can lead to death. Symptoms of mesothelioma do not present themselves until years, and sometimes decades, after the initial exposure.
Sports operations manager for Walsall Council, Peter Jeffery, said: “It appears in common with most buildings which were built in the 1970′s, asbestos containing material was used in the construction of Oak Park Leisure Centre.
“Fortunately, the room where the deterioration was discovered is never used by members of the public. The method of removal of the material has been approved by Health and Safety and air sampling in the room itself was negative.
“Once the material has been sealed and removed, we will install the fire alarm system and seek to programme centre activities around the work.”
The number of council staff, both past and present who have accessed to the boiler room, is not know. The leisure centre will continue to operate during the anticipated two week closure but the swimming pools will be closed and showers will not be available. Work to remove the asbestos containing material is likely to cost in the region of £10,000. It is hoped that the pools will reopen on 7 March.
News
Adam Lumley The YamYam 11 Feb 10
An inquest into the death of a former teacher at a Bloxwich school has reached a verdict of death due to an industrial disease.
Beryl Green, former head of business studies at Frank F Harrison School in Leamore Lane, died in November last year aged 77. She had been suffering from mesothelioma, a form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos dust.
The inquest heard that Mrs Green worked as a commerce teacher at Frank F from 1974 until her retirement in 1990. A statement from members of her family read to the court said: “She remembers the removal of asbestos from the casings around the heaters in the classroom where she worked. The work went on for months.”
Asbestos is present in almost every school in Walsall built before the dangers of airborne asbestos fibres were realised. Particular concerns have been raised concerning the temporary “mobile” classrooms constructed in the 50′s and 60′s as a quick fix for overcrowded schools. Many still remain in use with children being taught in the same temporary classrooms that were once used by their parents.
The governments Building Schools for the Future and Primary Capital programmes aim to rebuild or refurbish every school in the country and, at long last, the dangers of the presence of asbestos are being taken into account. However, figures for the number of teachers and children exposed to asbestos in the past are not available as the devastating effect of mesothelioma takes years and sometimes decades to become evident.
News
Express & Star 13 Jan 10
The family of a Great Barr man who died after being exposed to asbestos during his job have won a six-figure payout – nine years after his death…
News
The YamYam 10 Dec 09
Delays to repair work at Willenhall Library mean that it will not reopen until at least the end of January. The library was closed in September following the failure of the heating system.
Before the boiler can be replaced, work costing £80,000 is needed to remove and then dispose of dangerous asbestos. It is estimated that the boiler will take 20 days to replace and that work will not now start until 2 January. Remedial work, making good and safety checks make it unlikely that the library will open before February.
Cabinet member for Leisure and Culture, Councillor Barry Sanders, said:
“We`ve made a commitment to the people of Willenhall to see their library reopened. We are making good on that.”
News
Adam Aspinall Mercury 6 Dec 09
Toxic cigarettes smuggled into Britain from Russia are being sold to Midland school children for as little as forty pence a packet. The dangerous bootlegs, branded with the name Jin Ling, are twice as strong as normal fags and could contain industrial chemicals – including asbestos-lined Chinese drywall…
News
B'ham mail 19 Oct 09
Arsonists struck at a derelict Midland factory leaving firefighters to tackle the blaze for nearly two hours. Two crews and an aerial appliance battled with the fire on Stafford Road, Darlaston, which had spread to an asbestos roof…
Automotive news
Tom Scotney Birmingham Post 7 Sep 09
There could be “hundreds” of former Longbridge workers suffering from asbestos-related cancer after working at the Birmingham plant, a lawyer has warned…