Am I overreacting?

xpf

My son has come home from school tonight with a small block of MDF that he has cut & sanded into shape. I asked him if he wore a mask when he was doing so but was told that they didn't tell him to and he only wore eye protection.

My OH is a joiner so I am well aware of the dangers of MDF particles and am far from pleased that my son wasn't made aware of the risks and the importance of wearing a mask. I intend to send a strongly worded letter into school tomorrow demanding assurance that this will not happen again, otherwise he will not be attending DT lessons.

Am I completely overreacing?

Sylvester

Must always wear masks around MDF materials. Anywhere will tell you that. The school have acted irresponsibly and against health and safety.

Send a strongly worded letter and if you don't get the response you want, go armed with literature from the internet about it.

MrsTinks

wow... when I was at school (and it's not THAT long ago) we were never told to wear masks for dealing with MDF... Not saying it's not what they should do but merely that I didn't know

Personally? I'd send a NICE letter asking about the health and safety etc in these lessons - your son made you aware that they hadn't been instructed to wear masks and obviously you're concerned as you know of the potential risks when it comes to MDF... more flies with sugar than vinegar
If the answer isn't satisfactory then by all means get very firm with them... they may thank you for pointing this out to them and ensure that the staff member is reminded/retrained/trained properly for this etc

Going in all guns blazing from the start would probably get you labelled as confrontational - especially if it could have been a genuine mistake on a single occasion

Dave101t

children in a dt class working with a bit of sandpaper and mdf isnt even a hazard.
id be more worried if they were using electric tools without a degree, than mdf without a mask.

xpf

Thanks for your comments.

One of my reasons for posting this is because my FIL died almost a year ago from lung disease so I wasn't sure if I was going over board because of this. I think I'll draft a letter but re-read it tomorrow morning before I send it to make sure I'm not being too blunt.

jamesey07

what type of lung disease?

elfen

I used to use MDF in DT lessons with neither eye protection or masks, and we used the electical table saws/sander things. I'd agree with a more polite letter about H&S and your son knowing about wearing masks but maybe them not realising would go down better then the school seeing you as an overbearing overprotective parent if you wrote the more strongly worded letter. You could maybe suggest if your OH is free for a DT lesson that he go in and talk about the dangers of things such as that?

slummymummyof3

What age is your son? If he is primary aged, then it is highly likely that the teacher (who will not be a specialist in DT) is unaware of the safety implications of MDF. A well reasoned, level-headed letter will command far more respect than going off the deep end - what is done is done, you can only hope to change it for the next time.

Zazen999

I would get a MDF COSHH assesment off t'internet which states that masks must be worn during processing; and include it with the letter. I googled it and the first one that came up had the necessary information.

pinkshoes

I bought MDF from B&Q to make some shelves a couple of years ago.

The guy in B&Q didn't wear any mask when cutting it, and nor did I!

Is this a recent thing??

(I used to use it alot at school and we never wore masks!)

LJM

slummymummyof3 wrote: »

What age is your son? If he is primary aged, then it is highly likely that the teacher (who will not be a specialist in DT) is unaware of the safety implications of MDF. A well reasoned, level-headed letter will command far more respect than going off the deep end - what is done is done, you can only hope to change it for the next time.

it doesnt make a difference whether or not they are trained in DT and unaware,the school policies are applicable to all staff so they should know the safety implications