Asbestos was a building material used extensively in Great Britain from the 1950s through to the 1990s.
Serious, often fatal diseases can be caused when asbestos fibres are released from materials, becoming airborne and inhaled. On average, there is a 30–40 year latency period between exposure to asbestos fibres and the onset of disease. For
Many schools, built before 2000, will contain some form of asbestos. Asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) include:
The most likely way ACMs will create a risk in schools is when they are disturbed or damaged through maintenance, repair or construction activities. School caretakers are a particular group at risk due to the nature of their work, eg drilling and fixing, and other contractors may be at risk while undertaking maintenance or installation work. If asbestos is disturbed during such work, there is a risk that fibres will be released and create risk to others in the school.
Asbestos that is in good condition and unlikely to be damaged or disturbed is not a significant risk to health as long as it is properly managed. This means that teachers and pupils are unlikely to be at risk in the course of their normal activities. However, they should not undertake activities that damage ACMs, such as pinning or tacking work to insulation board or ceiling tiles.
Anyone who has responsibility for the maintenance and/or repair of non-domestic premises, including schools, is a ‘dutyholder’ as defined in Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006. For the majority of schools, the dutyholder will be the employer.
Who the employer is varies with the type of school. For community schools, community special schools, voluntary-controlled schools, maintained nursery schools and pupil referral units, the employer is the local authority. For academies, free schools, voluntary-aided and foundation schools, it will be the school governors. For independent schools, it may be the proprietor, governors or trustees.
In situations where budgets for building management are delegated to schools by the local authority, the duty to manage asbestos will be shared between schools and the local authority. The authority’s written scheme for the financing of maintained schools will set out the categories of work that will either be financed from the delegated school budget share (revenue repairs and maintenance) or remain the responsibility of the local authority (capital expenditure). Both parties will therefore have ‘dutyholder’ responsibilities for the repair and maintenance of the premises.
Dutyholders should know whether their premises contain asbestos, where it is and what condition it is in. Then they should ensure that they manage it properly.
They must assess and manage the risks from asbestos to employees and others. They must also ensure that anyone who is likely to work on, or disturb, asbestos is provided with information about its location and condition.
The dutyholder’s responsibilities include:
Those most at risk of disturbing ACMs are tradespeople, caretakers, etc. The school’s plan needs to contain provisions to ensure that information about the location and condition of ACMs is given to anyone who might disturb these materials. The dutyholder should also ensure that staff likely to disturb asbestos are suitably trained.
Most staff are not directly involved in managing the buildings or in carrying out repair or maintenance work. However, staff still need to be made aware of the potential hazards. All staff should be instructed not to disturb or damage ACMs, for example by pinning work to walls. They should also report damage to school fixtures or fittings that could lead to the release of asbestos fibres, eg damage to ceiling or floor tiles, or to column seals in system-built schools.
Dutyholders need to check that any contractors likely to disturb asbestos are trained and competent for that work. Licensed contractors must be used for most work with asbestos insulation, AIB and asbestos coatings.
Those responsible for managing asbestos on the school premises have a key role in briefing contractors, whether procured through the local authority, or directly procured by the school. They should ensure that contractors are provided with all recorded information on the location and condition of ACMs.
HSE has developed an interactive, web-based tool to help small businesses understand the duty to manage requirements. This e-tool is also a useful resource for schools.
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