| Around 75% of Britain’s schools are thought to contain asbestos (ATaC) and 228 teachers are known to have died from asbestos related illnesses between 1991 and 2005 (HSE). |
| All British schools have a legal duty to protect their pupils and staff from potentially dangerous asbestos and by law you must have stringent processes in place within your school to carefully monitor asbestos. |
| Government legislation requires regular surveys to be carried out to assess the condition of your school buildings and report on any asbestos. Further action must be taken where asbestos is identified which has been damaged or disturbed, or is likely to be and cannot be protected. Whilst this can often occur when refurbishment or other building work is undertaken, everyday wear and tear may also damage or disturb asbestos releasing asbestos fibres into the air. |
| If the asbestos present in your school buildings is in good condition and unlikely to be disturbed then there is no obligation to remove it, but its location and condition must be recorded and monitored at regular intervals (usually annually). From this record, an assessment of the risk of exposure to an individual should be made and a Management Plan must be drawn up and reviewed at regular intervals. The management plan must be made available to all staff and the school must inform anybody who may disturb asbestos, such as contractors, as to where it is located. |
| Strategic Risk Management (Asbestos) Ltd is UKAS accredited for asbestos surveying, asbestos air monitoring and fibre counting, asbestos bulk sampling and asbestos analysis. |
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