By Joy Barrett
Willetton Senior High School was closed for the first week of Term Three in 2014 due to asbestos dust contamination from deterioration and damage to low density asbestos fibre board ceiling panels. Remedial work and extensive cleaning were undertaken and the school was declared safe for re-occupation.
The SSTUWA and the school staff remained concerned that the ceiling panels would continue to deteriorate and that ongoing air monitoring and dust sampling should be carried out. The SSTUWA had lobbied strongly for a more permanent solution and testing throughout 2015.
Checks by environmental consultants, carried out on one unoccupied block due for demolition in late November 2015, identified that indeed further dust containing traces of asbestos had settled.
Air monitoring and dust sampling was then carried out in all other blocks. Air monitoring did not indicate airborne asbestos fibres but six out of 20 swab tests proved positive. This testing did not indicate what would be considered to be a health risk by WorkSafe or the Health Department. However, to allow this contamination to continue was not considered acceptable by the SSTUWA or the staff.
Read the rest of Joy's article in the February edition of Western Teacher here.
