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.
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.
