We are writing to update you on the work being done by the expert Panel reviewing the way materials containing asbestos are handled across our campuses. The three-member review team is composed of external and U of T experts, and guided by the University of Toronto’s Asbestos Review Terms of Reference. It is led by Jack Siemiatycki, a professor of social and preventive medicine at École de santé publique de l’Université de Montréal (ESPUM) and the principal scientist at le Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal. The other members are both at U of T’s division of occupational and environmental health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health: Associate Professor Andrea Sass-Kortsak, and Roland Hosein, an Adjunct Professor. The Panel has met with representatives from a range of groups, including:

Asbestos Advisory Committee (Tri-Campus)
Joint Health & Safety Committees of the Medical Sciences Building, Sidney Smith Hall, and Ramsay Wright Laboratories
Facilities Management from the Faculty of Medicine
Environmental Health & Safety Team
Hazardous Construction Materials Group
Capital Projects
Facilities & Services
University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union
United Steelworkers, Local 1998
University of Toronto Faculty Association
Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 3902

Several of these groups submitted information for consideration following their meetings with the Panel. The submissions received have been detailed and broad, and the Panel has requested further time to ensure that each submission is given careful consideration prior to drafting its final report. The Panel will continue its work over the spring and summer, with the aim of submitting its final report in the fall.

We would like to thank the community for their participation in this important process.