TWO teachers are suing for compensation after claiming they contracted cancer by pinning children's work on school walls riddled with asbestos.
Education bosses face hefty legal bills from teachers exposed in the classroom, it was claimed today.
About 415 schools in Sunderland, Durham and South Tyneside contain asbestos, with council bosses paying out more than £1million to test for and tre
at it over the last year.
New Government guidelines insist that schools should identify where asbestos is present so teachers don't put themselves and children at risk by using drawing pins.
But teaching unions say many staff aren't aware of the threat, while claiming that the long incubation period for diseases means more staff could be affected in the future.
Howard Brown, a teacher at Hetton School, is Sunderland branch secretary for the National Union of Teachers (NUT).
He said: "There is widespread use of asbestos in schools and every school should have an asbestos map, so teachers know where it is and won't put pins in.
"Our school has it, but talking to other staff they are not even aware of whether asbestos is present in their schools, so they are assuming that it isn't there. It needs to be made much clearer."
Mr Brown added: "Our advice to teachers is if they think they have disturbed asbestos, log it on the day and go to the doctor. It makes an insurance claim for compensation much safer. But, what do we tell children? Who is responsible for them?"
One ex-teacher from Sunderland and one from Durham have each logged claims, with four in Gateshead and one in North Tyneside.
Asbestos was a common building material between 1945 and 1975, in everything from pipe lagging to wall panels. Blue and brown asbestos was banned in 1985.
Damaged asbestos can lead to diseases if the fibres are carried into people's lungs.
Last year, Sunderland Council spent £179, 286 at 47 stripping out asbestos in its ageing schools.
The work included removing celings, floors, carrying out air tests while also tackling flaking and damaged asbestos. In Durham the bill ran to £750,811.
Five years ago, a union survey of 22 school kitchens in Durham revealed 20 of them contained damaged asbestos. The asbestos discovered ranged from broken ceiling tiles to cracked plates on wall pipes, ovens and sterilisers.
Mick Lyons, North East national executive member for the teaching union NASUWT, admitted that schools were now looking at a "timebomb " from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s.
A council spokeswoman said: "There has been one claim in the last five years from a member of staff in relation to asbestos related diseases. This claim is still outstanding."
