The news about asbestos-containing mulch being discovered in sites across Sydney, including schools, has raised once again the issue of asbestos in schools. Over the years, the risks posed by potential exposure to asbestos on the part on students and staff have frequently been in the news.
Following a number of discoveries of asbestos in NSW public schools in the early 2000s, the state government reviewed its approach to asbestos, creating a centralised asbestos management plan which all government schools are required to follow. Each individual school’s asbestos register is also publicly available online.
This increased coordination and transparency has been a welcome development, but it has also revealed the scale of work required to clean up the legacy of asbestos in school buildings and groups. Inevitably, not everyone has been satisfied with the speed of the government response.
The schools asbestos management plan
The NSW Department of Education’s Asbestos Management Plan for NSW Government Schools is the central document outlining the responsibilities and approach that the government requires schools to take around asbestos identification and control.
The management plan includes:
- a list of requirements around asbestos, including notification of planned asbestos works and maintaining an asbestos register
- responsibilities of the various parties involved, including the Department of Education, school principals and contractors
- principles and processes around the management of asbestos
- control and mitigation measures where asbestos is identified
- specific advice on asbestos when found in school grounds and buildings respectively
- procedures for asbestos removal
- procedures for responding to asbestos incidents and emergencies.
In addition to this central asbestos management plan, some schools where asbestos has been identified also have site-specific asbestos management plans.
The schools asbestos register
All government schools in NSW where asbestos has been identified have are part of a publicly available schools asbestos register. You can look up any school to see its own asbestos register, together with works notifications or site-specific management plans where relevant.
While making school asbestos registers public is praiseworthy from a government transparency point of view, it’s also increased the visibility of asbestos issues. Analysis of the registers has found, for example, that more than 100 schools contained friable asbestos as of 2019, leading to criticism from the then state opposition.
Although concern about asbestos is always understandable, especially when there’s a possibility of children being exposed, it’s also worth noting that the perception of an asbestos crisis in schools is partly an effect of the public availability of information – and it’s better to have the information out there than not.
Airsafe’s involvement
Airsafe has been deeply involved in the process of auditing and advising schools over several decades. We continue to offer services to schools including asbestos surveys and asbestos registers, to help keep NSW’s kids and teachers safe.
For any questions about our services, you’re welcome to contact Airsafe at 1300 888 338.
