Early one morning, I walked into the school to prepare for basketball practice and found yellow tape blocking my path into the gym. I was soon met by three men in hazmat suits who informed me that the gym would be closed indefinitely. My principal then informed me that the asbestos in our school had been exposed as a result of recent poles that had been screwed into the walls by district maintenance. This was the first time that most of us on staff had even learned about the existence of asbestos in our school. This is when I also learned that the majority of schools in the Surrey School District have asbestos in the walls. What's more it is not necessary to inform staff of this information upon hiring. In addition, we were told that we could not inform the students about what was happening in the gym; the public was not to know that there had been an asbestos leak in our school. So, the students were told that there was maintenance happening the gym and it would be closed for some time.
Our Health and Safety Committee informed us that we should make claims of our exposure to asbestos in the case that sometime in the future medical problems arises for us that could be connected to asbestos. This was quite a battle with administration as, I believe, they were instructed to not sign our forms without extensive questioning of our possible interactions with the exposed asbestos (when? where? how?). This is because a claim of exposure to asbestos is not accepted from teachers who work in schools with asbestos; the claimer must have come into contact with asbestos that has been exposed in some way.
I find it interesting that in my job I basically have all the key dimensions of employment that I value, which impact my health and well-being. However, I am missing what Cathryn stated in her presentation as the most important dimension of health and well-being in the workplace: SAFETY. Unless I am lucky enough to be hired in a school newly built, this safety problem will be integrated into my workplace indefinitely. What's more, who know that if I do ever become ill as a result of my workplace, the connection between my job and health will be accepted and recognized.
Sadly, it is not only teachers that are at risk while at work in a school with asbestos, it is also the students who unknowing sit within walls that could possibly be making them sick.
