Asbestos is the biggest occupational killer in the UK and appears in over 3000 different building products used in our homes, offices, factories and schools.
The population most at risk from contracting Asbestos related diseases are building maintenance and repair workers who are unknowingly disturbing asbestos containing materials. Legislation designed to protect these workers has been in place since May 2004.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health said the presence of lethal dust fibres in school buildings was a “national scandal”.
In a report, it warned that 75 per cent of state schools are exposing children, teachers and other staff to the carcinogenic material.
It comes after more than 140 teachers died from the rare asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma in the past 10 years, with research in the US suggesting over 100 people will die every year in the UK because of exposure at school.
MPs are now calling on the Government to introduce a programme to clear the material from schools.
The report also recommended annually updating parents, teachers and staff about asbestos in their schools and reinstating inspections into asbestos management.
If you are responsible for maintaining any type of property with the exception of a domestic house with no common shared areas, you must manage the asbestos within it. Failure to comply can result in heavy fines, disqualification as a director and even imprisonment.
Identification of asbestos is carried out during an inspection of the premises by a qualified surveyor. Samples of suspect materials are collected and later analysed under a microscope. The confirmed asbestos containing materials are assessed for 
the risk they pose and recommendation made on how to manage those risks. Many low cost solutions exist for managing asbestos; removal is a very last resort.
Jim Sheridan, the group’s chairman and the Labour MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, said: “This is a national scandal. Urgent action is needed to prevent more pupils, teachers and other staff being exposed to this deadly killer dust.
“We need both far greater awareness of the risks that this material poses and a programme for its phased removal.”
Last year the Department of Education revealed that its “best estimate” was that more than three-quarters of schools contained asbestos.
Researchers in the US found that for every death of a teacher from asbestos-related diseases, nine children will die. Children are more vulnerable because they have longer than adults to develop diseases related to the material.
According to the Health and Safety Executive, asbestos is the single greatest cause of work-related deaths in the UK, with 4,000 people dying every year after it was extensively used as a building material from the 1950s until the mid-1980s.
The fibre causes diseases including mesothelioma, which is always fatal, lung cancer, asbestosis and diffuse pleural thickening.