Staff are evacuated amid asbestos fears

Staff are evacuated amid asbestos fears

Tests were carried out on Monday morning which led to staff being told to work from home while awaiting the results.

Environment Minister John Young said the situation was ‘unsatisfactory’ and that he did not know what had prompted the investigation.

The evacuation comes after areas of Fort Regent were closed amid fears that staff and Islanders could have been exposed to asbestos – although this later proved to not be the case.

Deputy Young said: ‘Samples have been taken of the affected rooms and we are waiting for the report.

‘Staff have been given informal information that the tests are pretty much all okay apart from one. It is not all the rooms at South Hill, just the top floor.

‘Obviously we have to take asbestos issues very seriously but as far as I know there has been no recent building work done, so I would like to know what has changed. I don’t know what has prompted it.’

He added that the decision to evacuate the building had ‘come out of the blue’ and had taken staff working at the office ‘by surprise’.

Earlier this month, several parts of the Fort were closed for two weeks after a member of staff found material suspected to contain asbestos in an electrical cupboard near an air-handling unit.

Following the discovery, the unit was shut down to prevent the possible spread of the material and the nearby changing rooms and toilets were also closed.

Tests later gave the site the all clear with no asbestos fibres discovered.

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