QLD:Ex-teacher aide seeks asbestos compo

AAP General News (Australia)
12-20-2010
QLD:Ex-teacher aide seeks asbestos compo

BRISBANE, Dec 20 AAP - A former pre-school teacher aide suffering terminal mesothelioma
is seeking compensation after working in a classroom undergoing renovations in the 1980s.

The woman in her early 60s, who does not want to be named, worked at Shailer Park State
Pre-School, in Brisbane's south, in 1983 while renovations were made to the preschool,
her lawyer says.

Maurice Blackburn associate Trent Johnson said Queensland government documents confirmed
the presence of asbestos within the original pre-school building, built in 1982, and the
extensions constructed the following year.

"Education facilities in Shailer Park were at a premium in the early 1980s and just
a year after the original preschool was built, it needed to double its size to meet demand,"

Mr Johnson said.

"Normal classes were conducted while the preschool extensions were under construction
and everyone who was at the site during the building works in early to mid-1983 would
have been exposed to the asbestos dust."

Asbestos fibres cause respiratory disease and cancer, including asbestosis and mesothelioma,
but the illnesses can take decades to develop.

Mr Johnson said a workers' compensation claim had been lodged.

His client was awaiting a decision on that, expected soon, before deciding whether
to sue the Queensland government for past and future economic loss, he said.

Mr Johnson urged others who attended the preschool in 1983 to register with the firm's
asbestos database.

That would allow supporting evidence to be gathered from past school attendees for
claims and would make future claims easier, he said.

Mr Johnson said the case would not necessarily become a class action.

"Not everyone who's exposed to asbestos will come down with an illness ... but if we
had a large number of people suffering from asbestos-related illnesses, anything is possible,"

he said.

Education Queensland's acting deputy director-general of infrastructure services, Lee
Callum, said some asbestos-removal work had been undertaken at the school.

The most recent was the replacing of the vinyl floors in the prep building earlier
this year, he said.

"Asbestos-containing materials in good condition and left undisturbed does not pose
a health risk," Mr Callum said in a statement on Monday evening.

"Where removal of asbestos-containing material is required, this work takes place out
of school hours, under strict conditions, when staff and students are not present."

AAP jmm/was

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