Parents Want Monitoring for Students Exposed to Asbestos

February 12, 2007 - More than 90 parents, teachers, staff and students at New Westminster Secondary School attended a meeting of the New Westminster (British Columbia) School District to address ongoing concerns about asbestos exposure, caused by a shoddy renovation project that took place nearly 2 years ago.

The British Columbia NewsLeader reports that “the questions asked [at the meeting] related to who was exposed; what was the level of exposure; and how the district planned to follow up with those who could suffer health problems as a result.”

Most of the attendees believed that the district had not been fully accountable as to the incident and believes that it should not have taken almost two years for the district to hold this week’s public meeting.

Parents also asked to see a list of students who could have been potentially exposed to the asbestos.  A list exists for staff and faculty but not students.

The asbestos incident dates back to April 2005 when a worker removed an asbestos-containing floor in a room in the school’s Massey wing. 

“The workers were not told the flooring contained asbestos and did not take proper precautions,” said the newspaper account. The article also pointed out that workers used power tools to remove the floor, which caused an enormous dust cloud that could be seen in the hallway outside the room.  The door to the room remained open during most of the work and students continually walked past.

Superintendent John Woudzia expressed the district’s regret as to the handling of the situation.  “It is extremely regrettable and unfortunate that this happened,” he said. “We regret that we did not communicate at that time and we apologize. We should have got the information out at that time.” 

“Staff shouldn’t have to worry about a safe and healthy workplace, nor should parents have to worry about their children.”

Earlier this year, WorkSafe B.C. released a report describing the district’s workplace safety practices as negligent and charged them with a $75,000 fine.