Asbestos works in schools

Asbestos work in schools / academies

Statutory Duty Holder and Responsible Person responsibilities in Academy settings relating to Asbestos Regulations

The current Code of Asbestos Regulations contain new requirements for certain types of non-licensable work with asbestos on notification of work; designating areas where you are working on asbestos; medical surveillance and record keeping. The Asbestos Code Of Practice has been revised to make legal compliance clearer to duty holders and to reflect the changes introduced.

The duty holder is responsible for finding out whether the premises contain asbestos and if so where it is and what condition it is in. If in doubt, materials must be presumed to contain asbestos. Assess the risk from asbestos present in the premises. Make a plan to manage that risk and act on it, provide this information to other employers (for example, building contractors) who are likely to disturb any asbestos present, so that they can put in place appropriate control while the work is being done.

For more information contact:

Caroline Bage

Telephone: 0191 561 2722
Email: caroline.bage@sunderland.gov.uk

For most schools, the duty holder will be the employer. Who the employer is varies with the type of school. For local authority managed schools, for example, community schools and voluntary-controlled schools, the employer is the local authority. Currently for Sunderland City Council premises the duty holder is the Chief Executive and the responsible person is Michael Whitaker (Strategic Property Manager). For voluntary-aided and foundation schools, it will be the school governors, and for academy and Free Schools, the academy trust will be the employer. For independent and fee-paying schools, it may be the proprietor, governors or trustees. Budgets for repair and maintenance of school buildings are sometimes delegated to schools by a local authority. In such cases, the duty to manage asbestos is shared between schools and the local authority.

As Sunderland City Council no longer fits into any of these categories in relation to academies, the Chief Executive and the Strategic Property Manager can no longer fulfil the roles of duty holder and responsible person. It is therefore the responsibility of the academy to appoint these individuals from within their organisation.

The Surveyors Guide does state that organisations are allowed to appoint competent help to assist with the management of Asbestos, and if your academy is signed into the Council's Asbestos S LA, the Authority will still appear on your management structure in the form of competent help.