A woodwork teacher has won £200,000 in compensation after arguing his health
was ruined by sawdust in a school workshop.
Eric McCreery, who was backed by the National Union of Schoolmasters/Union
of Women Teachers, said he suffered asthma and a streaming nose and eyes as a
result of his exposure to sawdust.
McCreery was a teacher at Llanishan High School in Cardiff but was forced to
retire in 1999.
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The compensation was paid by the local education authority, although it did
not admit liability.
The union said the pay-out should act as a warning to schools and local
education authorities to take into account the physical conditions in which
teachers work.