NUT comment on Joint Asbestos Survey by HSE and DfE

Tuesday, 21 September 2010 12:00 AM

Commenting on the findings of the joint survey by the Health & Safety Executive and the Department for Education on local authorities' arrangements for dealing with asbestos in system built schools, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers' union, said:

"The HSE and DfE have today published the findings of a survey of local authority management of asbestos in system-built schools (in general this refers to schools constructed between 1945 and 1980 many of which have structural columns fire-proofed with asbestos and enclosed by metal casings or cladding). Publication of these findings is long overdue, given that the survey was issued to local authorities in January 2009, with an original deadline of April 2009.

"The HSE and DfE conclude that the majority of local authorities have demonstrated that they have systems in place to manage asbestos safety. Whilst welcoming the survey as a step in the right direction, the NUT views this confidence as misplaced.

"Apart from the fact that the survey was restricted to asbestos management in system built schools, the NUT questions how it can be claimed that the majority of local authorities meet legal requirements in terms of asbestos management when only 42 were actually visited by HSE inspectors. The other 110 simply completed an on-line survey, making the survey essentially a paper exercise, reliant on local authorities admitting to failings in their system of asbestos management in order to trigger a visit from the HSE. A true understanding of the nature of the problem can only be gained when a full independent national audit of all schools is undertaken - something for which the NUT has called many years.

"With more and more schools opting out of local authority control, the NUT is concerned that standards of asbestos management will fall further, leading to greater numbers of exposure incidents. We fear also that the findings of this limited survey will be used to justify the abolition of a recently-established DfE steering group which was set up with the aim of improving asbestos management in schools."

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