The responsibility will be taken away from local authorities and the group is strongly encouraging the government to put the health of children and school staff first.
The Joint Union Asbestos Committee (JUAC) said that a recent judgement against the University of Lincoln, which exposed staff to asbestos fibres, indicated how easily wrong things can go if asbestos is not properly managed in educational institutions. It emphasises the importance that the Government should not transfer responsibility away from local authorities as they have the specialist knowledge and resources to help local authority schools safely maintain their asbestos.
Julie Winn, Chair of JUAC, today said that making school governing bodies (and therefore the governors) the ultimate employer means they will have to take on the full legal responsibilities for the health and safety of their staff and pupils.
Ms Winn, who is also a former chair of governors, said: “This is a step too far, Governors freely volunteer their time and expertise to support schools and it is hard to envisage how governors will cope with this additional responsibility with the limited time and resources available to them.
“Currently there is not any specific school guidance for the management of asbestos or any specific training on the management of asbestos in schools, even though more than 75% of all UK schools contain asbestos. The Government has also recently scrapped the health and safety inspections of schools that ensured they were achieving safe standards.
“This is yet a further attempt to deregulate without proper consideration of the practical impact on the risk to the health and safety of staff and pupils in UK schools. The UK already has the highest rate of mesothelioma deaths in the world, with teacher deaths from mesothelioma increasing year on year. We fear these changes will put more staff and pupils in danger of deadly exposure to asbestos.”
Michael Lees, founder of the Asbestos in Schools Group (AIS), said:
“Asbestos can kill unless it is effectively managed, therefore the best local authorities have trained, dedicated officials so they can achieve the rigorous standards required. Inevitably, this proposal will put staff and pupils at risk. It will also inflict an intolerable burden on governors, for if something does go wrong then instead of legal action being taken against the local authority, it will in future be taken against the governors. One must question how many people will volunteer to be governors if that is the case.”
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said:
“Unless asbestos management in schools improves more pupils and school staff will be at risk and their lives will be potentially endangered. The safe management of asbestos in our schools is too important to leave to chance, and is already too piecemeal and poorly managed in many schools. It is hard to see how transferring the management of asbestos to school governors will bring about an improvement. The government needs to put the health and safety of children and school staff first - it must not be sacrificed for deregulation.”
Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said:
“These plans will do nothing to protect children and teachers from the threat of poorly-managed asbestos in schools. Governors will be left to manage school buildings – around three quarters of which contain asbestos – without access to local authority support and expertise. This is a huge responsibility and with the UK having the highest rate of mesothelioma deaths in the world and with teacher deaths from mesothelioma increasing year on year, asbestos exposure in schools is a grave concern. It is high time the Government started treating it as such.”
For further information, please see the the full report which can be viewed here.