2023-08-31 23:07:22
The beginning of the works of the new Faculty of Medicine and Nursing of the UPV/EHU in Basurto begins with great zeal. The presence of asbestos in the building of the former teaching unit of the University in the hospital is slowing down the initial stage of the works, during which the building will be demolished. According to Gorka Moreno, vice-rector of the Bizkaia campus, these days the building’s roof is being removed following the guidelines established in the safety protocols established when working with materials in which this compound is present. Once these elements have been extracted “the demolition will go faster.”
Asbestos was widely used in construction and industry in the past. It is present in many old buildings where fiber cement was used for their roofs or pipes. When it is handled it becomes a dangerous material because it can generate a dust that, if inhaled, has very harmful effects on health.
This is precisely one of the main reasons why the Basurto hospital has closed and sealed the windows of four pavilions near the teaching unit to be demolished, inaugurated in 1969. As reported by Osakidetza to its workers through an internal communication, in which the presence of asbestos in the building was not collected, the measure adopted for “security reasons” seeks to “reduce the entry of external dust and thus reduce the risk of associated infection”.
In the letter, Salud warns that the demolition of this building, as well as the subsequent excavation that will be carried out on the site, will increase the amount of dust, which in turn “will increase the microbiological contamination derived from this work.” To do this, they have sealed the windows at the junction of the leaves with the frame in the Revilla, Arrupe and Ampuero pavilions facing Gurtubay street, as well as all those in the Aztarain building, where cancer patients are treated. The rest of the windows of the first three buildings may be opened between eight in the evening and eight in the morning, coinciding with the time when the works will not be underway.
fungus sampling
The hospital, for its part, has placed a mesh to reduce the spread of dust in the hospital grounds and is going to moisten the work area and the rubble to prevent dust from rising, according to reports from Health yesterday. An environmental sampling of fungi will also be carried out in risk areas and will supervise the cleaning work and increase it if necessary.
Another major nuisance that the construction of the new Faculty will generate is noise. To minimize them, Moreno explains that next week a 75-square-meter anti-acoustic canvas will be installed in the area of the hospital that borders the pit. «We are perfectly aware that it is not the same to carry out a work next to a hospital than in another place. The intention is to have as little influence as possible and try to reduce the disruption they entail as much as possible”, points out the vice-rector of the Bizkaia campus. The Basurto hospital, for its part, will provide earplugs to staff and patients who request them.
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