HSE Announce School Asbestos Inspection Campaign

Latest figures from the HSE estimate that asbestos related diseases including mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis are responsible for over 5000 deaths every year.

The HSE have announced that in September they will be launching a programme of inspections of primary and secondary schools in England, Scotland and Wales looking at how schools are managing the risks from asbestos.

Anyone who is responsible for non-domestic premises such as schools and commercial premises will have a duty to manage to manage any asbestos in those premises.

The duty holder will either be the owner of the premises or the person or organisation who has responsibility for maintenance of the premises e.g. through a tenancy agreement. In many workplaces this will be the employer.

The duty to manage asbestos has four essential stages.

The first stage is to identify whether the premises contain asbestos and, if so, where it is, what condition it is in and to presume that materials contain asbestos unless there is strong evidence to suggest that they don’t. A record should be kept of the findings

The next stage is to assess the risk from any asbestos that is present.

The third stage is to prepare a plan to manage that asbestos and put it into action. This includes regularly reviewing and monitoring the plan and keeping your arrangements up to date.

The final stage is to provide relevant information on the location and condition of asbestos containing materials to anyone who is liable to disturb them, for example building contractors.

Please speak to your normal PIB Risk management contact or get in touch using [email protected]  if you have any questions about managing asbestos in your workplace.