Family wins settlement in claim over teacher’s asbestos cancer death

The Association of School and College Leaders said asbestos still poses a risk to teachers and pupils in 80% of UK schools, since many were built in the 1940s-70s. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

The family of a teacher who died of cancer due to asbestos exposure at her school has won a settlement, prompting warnings that staff and pupils remain at risk in older buildings.

Hazel Healey worked in St Gabriel’s school between 1971 and 1980, and died aged 73 in May 2022 after she was diagnosed with mesothelioma – which is nearly always caused by asbestos exposure – in October 2020.