Asbestos and when it becomes a risk

Detailed information on what asbestos is and the risks from school and college buildings that contain asbestos if managed poorly.

Most school and college buildings contain asbestos. Asbestos is a naturally occurring fibrous mineral, which was incorporated into a wide variety of materials used in the UK up to the year 2000.

If managed actively and safely, the presence of asbestos in your school or college should not pose a risk to occupants. Poor management of asbestos can pose serious health risks.

Undamaged, sealed materials will not release fibres. If materials containing asbestos are disturbed or damaged, asbestos fibres can be released into the air and breathed in by building occupants. This is more likely to happen as asbestos materials age and deteriorate.

The activities most likely to lead to the disturbance of asbestos materials in schools and colleges are building and maintenance work. Depending on their nature and location, asbestos materials could also be disturbed through vandalism and other everyday impacts on the asbestos material.

Everyday activities can disturb asbestos, including physical damage to asbestos materials, water damage, and air movements (over asbestos which is already in poor condition and unencapsulated). Encapsulated materials within clad structural columns and areas such as ceiling voids can also be disturbed in these ways.

Asbestos exposure puts individuals at risk of contracting several serious diseases in later life, including mesothelioma, which is an aggressive cancer most commonly caused by long-term-low-level exposure to asbestos fibres, and lung cancer.