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One of our dear little [s]sods[/s] souls has kicked the shite out of a wall exposing asbestos, the area has been taped off and everyone is diverted around it. However staff and pupils are still within a couple of metres of it, what should the school be doing about it? (looking for some time off here guys)!!
Asbestos Containing Materials vary massively so you need to get a specialist in who will asses the risk and recommend the best action (likely to be a case of make it safe and leave it be)!
Contact the Local Authorities H&S officer. Whoever manages the schools maintenance should have the number.
How do you know it's asbestos?
There are different types of asbestos which pose different levels of hazards.
My initial actions would be to seal up the hole with plastic and damp the area down with a water spray.
Then call a specialist for a proper assessment.
The information about the hazard level / type of asbestos may be more readily available than you think, and so they've made an assessment already.
[i]the area has been taped off [/i]
at the very least I'd be expecting them to tape plastic sheets over it to stop any possible asbestos fibres blowing around.
Wallpaper paste is good at sealing potential asbestos
Surely the OP shouldn't be doing anything suggested by people off the interweb and simply refer it to the LEA to deal with it?
Or they could do a school project and get the kids to muck in with ideas?
The school legally need to have an asbesos register/management report which will have a record of where all the asbesots containing materials are present and their how they should be mainatained. The building manager/caretaker should have a copy.
That firm who carried out ther report will be able to advise on the situation. In the majoity of t build materials apart form loose insurlation the fibres are bound into other materials such as cement, plaster, plastic, etc whic preent them from becoming readliy airbourne.
My company owns an ex-BT depot built in 1956, which is full of asbestos-lagged heating pipes and is going to be demolished soon. That's proper asbestos so it's going to be interesting to see how they do it.
That's proper asbestos so it's going to be interesting to see how they do it.
Expensively, very, very expensively. Sounds like a full containment under negative pressure job and full hazard suits and respirators.
Then watch the operatives eat lunch in the enclosure!! (Yes it has happened).
As above, the school should have an asbestos register.
Speaking to a colleague who used to work in asbestos recovery, if you believe the wall has possible asbestos fibres embedded in it the whole area should be cordoned off and sealed/put out of bounds. Any persons coming in contact should be quarantined to prevent fibres getting out of the area. Relative authority need to be contacted immediately - need to treat it extremely seriously. Sounds like overkill but it doesn't take much to do irreparable damage to the lungs.
....and DON'T TELL THE PRESS!
DON'T TELL THE PRESS!
Unless your sad-face pose is really good.
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There's asbestos in most school buildings older than 25yrs and the local authorities are too skint / don't give a damn to do anything about it.
Most of it is relatively safe, it's only when it disturbed and there are fibres floating about that it's dangerous.
Expensively, very, very expensively. Sounds like a full containment under negative pressure job and full hazard suits and respirators
Or the Edinburgh method, stick a match to it one night and firebrigade advise local residents to remain indoors!
Write a FOI request to the education authorirty and ask about asbestos, its containmnet in school buildings and a copy of the register for the school.
Some worrying advice being given above.
Asbestos insulating board is a dangerous product so it's not as simple as 'as long as it's not loose fibres it's fine'. Our schools are full of it and it isn't being managed properly at all due to the sheer scale of the problem and the cost of putting it right.
Ceilings and walls panels in schools are full of AIB and I'd be concerned until I knew they knew what they were doing with it.
[i]Expensively, very, very expensively. Sounds like a full containment under negative pressure job and full hazard suits and respirators.[/i]
We had that in a local exchange (before I worked in the area). The whole MDF (main distribution frame) with thousands of phones lines operating through it was encapsulated in a plastic curtain, and the guys needing to work on it had to get suited up and then go through a shower afterwards before unsuiting.
The school will have an asbestos management survey if pre-2000, but it may only include accessible areas. That will lead to a risk assessment, and a management plan.
Staff, contractors and visitors to the school should be made aware of the presence of asbestos if relevant (they might want to pin displays up, drill holes, etc).
If asbestos (or suspected) is exposed then the area should be cleared and expert advice sought. The area must be made inaccessible until declared safe by experts. I'd want it compartmentalised, e.g. locked room, but I'm not an expert.
Some asbestos is encapsulated in floor tiles and low risk, other types are far worse and will easily become airborne. Some material looks like it contains asbestos, but doesn't
We used to update our survey annually, with photos to compare to previous years, and major works would trigger a more in-depth survey that covered less accessible areas that might be disturbed.