Asbestos fragments are found at Nairn Academy

School staff said they were “incorrectly advised” that a woodwork area at Nairn Academy could be used after asbestos temporarily closed a number of other classrooms.

The fragments were discovered in some parts of the school last week after work over the Easter break to remove moss from the building’s roof.

Concerns were raised last Monday about small amounts of dust appearing in the rooms. The affected areas of the school were closed from Monday until

“Unfortunately the school was incorrectly advised”

Thursday so they could be cleaned and tested.

But the letter to parents said: “Unfortunately the school was incorrectly advised that the woodwork area could be used.”

Yesterday, a Highland Council spokeswoman confirmed that the chryostile (white asbestos), which is found in small fragments of roof ceiling paint coating, had fallen and settled on surfaces.

But she stressed that the Health and Safety Executive was informed and advised that the incident is not reportable under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Ocurrences Regulations 2013, due to “negligible risk” to health and safety.

An NHS Highlands spokesman also said that a small number of students and staff were in these areas of the school for short periods of time before fragments were removed.

He stressed that, due to the small amount of asbestos involved, and short period of exposure, the fragments were “unlikely to have posed a significant health risk.”

Work has been done to clean up all affected areas and sampling has confirmed no asbestos is now present.