The Health and Safety Executive will inspect schools across England to assess how they are managing the risks from asbestos.
From this September, HSE inspections of primary and secondary schools will look at how they are meeting their requirements to manage the risk from asbestos.
Asbestos is present in more than eight in 10 school sites, a Department for Education survey in 2018 estimated.
The survey also found that almost a fifth of schools were not managing asbestos in line with government guidance.
HSE inspectors will contact schools to arrange suitable dates and times for inspections. They will also need to speak to someone “with knowledge of how asbestos is managed by the school”.
Inspectors may also need to see documents such as asbestos registers and management plans.
To prepare, the HSE said schools “may wish to review their current arrangements and check that they are meeting their duties”.
The rules require schools to take “reasonable steps” to find out if there is asbestos on their premises, as well as the amount, where it is and the condition it is in.
Schools must also presume materials contain asbestos unless there is “strong evidence that they do not”, and have to assess the risk of anyone being exposed to fibres from the materials identified.
Schools also have to prepare an asbestos management plan that sets out in detail how the risks from asbestos will be managed, take “necessary steps” to put the plan into action, and periodically review and monitor the plan.
Hatch Consultancy offer a free school asbestos compliance service – please contact us to discuss.
