UiO has sealed more asbestos in Christine Bonnevy’s home

It was March 30th Uniforum They may first report that eight researchers from the Norwegian Center for Molecular Medicine had to leave their newly relocated headquarters at Christine Bonnevy’s home after asbestos dust was found on surfaces in the room. They were told to stay away from their workplace until 12 April.

Closed chamber to remove asbestos has been completed

Now, the property department has made sure to sample all the rooms in Kristen Bonnevy’s home as we had similar renovations recently. Measurements show that asbestos dust has also been found on surfaces in these rooms, property manager John Scoggin and faculty director Joe Dole at MN College say in a letter to staff, a copy of which Uniforum also received. Therefore, they closed the respective rooms for further use until the full treatment of asbestos dust.

Estate Director John Scoggin and Faculty Director Joe Dole in the College of Mathematics and Natural Sciences write in the letter that they rent because they actually lose access to the room until it has been cleared and all asbestos dust removed. The letter states that if they still need access to the room, they should contact the nearest tenant. It also states that the room will only open once during this week.

Only asbestos dust on the floor

It is the Department of Life Sciences that has basically succeeded in the building. The eight from the Norwegian Center for Molecular Medicine who had to move out of the building before Easter belong to the medical school, while all the others who work on the building belong to the MN College of Life Sciences department.

The letter confirmed that no asbestos was detected in the air, only in dust samples on the room’s floor. As far as Uniforum knows, the rooms that were found to contain asbestos dust are on the third and fourth floors of Christine Bonnevy’s home. Of the more than 340 employees in the department who have to stay away from workrooms and labs, it’s not clear what property manager John Scoggin and faculty director Joe Doll wrote.

“It will cause inconvenience.”

Due to the consequences of the asbestos findings, a working group was also created with the participation of the property management, UiO Corporate Health Service (BHT), tenants and users. The working group receives testing, processing assistance and advice from external specialist companies Mycoteam AS and Norprodukter-Miljø AS. Safety services are reported locally and centrally, Property Administrator John Scoggin and College Administrator Joe Dole write in the letter to staff at Christine Bonnevy’s home. At the same time, they demand rent for all the difficulties that closing rooms leads to employees, but they emphasize that the protection of life and health is the most important thing.

“We recognize that building closures will cause inconvenience to ongoing activities, but we ask for the understanding that the preservation of life and health must take precedence over all other considerations. Management will be involved in facilitating and minimizing the adverse effects of operations during the decontamination process. Any necessary needs should be directed, Including access to closed areas, to the line manager.”

He called for better action

After a group of eight researchers from the Norwegian Center for Molecular Medicine had to move from their newly relocated headquarters at Krisitne Bonnevie’s home before Easter, it turned out that some had worked on the building while there was still asbestos dust in the building. She led Group Leader and Assistant Director Hartmut Löck at the Norwegian Center for Molecular Medicine and Chief Engineer and IT Director Georgios Maclaras to call for better procedures and better clarification of roles and responsibilities at UiO, when this occurs.

“- In this case, the University of Oslo did not make a good enough assessment of the impact of what should happen, if serious things happen,” Georgios Maclaras told Uniforum..

Rector Arne Benjaminsen described the situation as sad, and promised to set up a working group to review procedures and clarify roles and responsibilities when this occurs.

Workgroup started

Ahead of the weekend, Uniforum was in touch with Arne Benjaminsen to hear more about the notified working group.

– This takes me seriously. In an email to Uniforum, Arne Benjaminsen said a working group of people on the user side (MatNat, NCMM), Estate Management, and Corporate Health Service has been set up. Work in the group is in full swing.

– There are meetings in the group, and a company that specializes in sampling / analysis of asbestos deposits and removal of asbestos is involved. Arne Benjaminsen replies that there will now be a review of the building, and we are awaiting their reports before we can say anything else about the scope and measures.

It now turns out that asbestos dust has been found on the roofs of several other buildings in Christine Bonnevy’s home.

– very serious

Uniforum also sent an email to chief safety representative Hege Lynne after it became known that asbestos dust had been found in more rooms in Christine Bonnevy’s home. So far no one has been able to post the perfect solution, which is not surprising. But regarding the first case that Uniforum had regarding asbestos finds in the home of Christine Bonivi, it answered as follows:

“As the lead safety representative, I take this very seriously,” she told Uniforum. “I am satisfied with the work that UiO has done, and the safety service here is included.” She still thinks it will take some time.

“Cleaning up a situation like this takes time, and there’s nothing I can do to speed this up. Staff will probably have to be patient,” Chief Safety Officer Heig Lane told Uniforum on March 30.

When Uniforum first wrote about the search group having to leave the newly relocated building at Christine Bonnevy’s home just before Easter, it was said that they could return again on April 12. Now they and others in the building who normally use the room where the asbestos dust was found will likely wait, at best until later this week, before they can use their workplaces again.