McGill University closes 3 buildings, moves classes online after asbestos found

I have officially become an old man, my first though was "back when I was a student (at Concordia) they posted a bunch of signs warning us not to disturb the asbestos and classes carried on"

Technical info: asbestos is contained in construction material. If they are already doing construction and found it, it means they have probably disturbed it and spread dust around already. They should have found it in testing before construction began, but that doesn't always happen. This is called being very safe. There is a high chance there is no threat. But that doesn't matter, lawsuits over low-threat things are expensive. And people are scared of asbestos.

Any building or construction done before the early 2000s can have asbestos. If multiple buildings are done at the same time, there is likely to be corresponding asbestos in different materials. That is how the uni probably knows about the other buildings.

Interesting. Was it McGill that offers an industrial hygiene major BSc.? It is common practice to stop work on a renovation if asbestos is found. To close two neighbouring buildings is concerning though. I hope all the students and staff will be safe from exposure.

When I was at McGill, during some renovations of the building where I had most of my classes there was a plastic bag labeled asbestos just hanging around in a stairwell for weeks.