‘Unacceptable’: School asbestos checks falling
Asbestos checks in NSW public schools have dropped dramatically with five times fewer inspections carried out this financial year compared to last year.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal there were only 158 asbestos inspections in 2018-19 compared with 843 in 2017-18, according to Department of Education data requested by the state opposition.
Labor MLC Courtney Houssos last night slammed the situation as "totally unacceptable" - particularly given there are currently 2,185 schools on the department's asbestos register.
"Asbestos remains a hazard, especially for children, so it should always be monitored closely when it's on our school grounds," she said. "Such a dramatic drop in inspections is very alarming. This meant less than one in 10 schools were inspected last year - it's not good enough."
A department spokesman said the reason the number of asbestos inspections was so high in 2017-18 was due to "specific testing of vermiculite material, which was suspected to contain asbestos".
"The majority of the schools with vermiculite present were tested in the first year, 2017-18, with the remaining inspections taking part the year after," he said. "The schools that weren't part of the 2017-18 inspections had already been deemed free of vermiculite.
"With this inspection program now completed, funds have been directed to remediation procedures."
The spokesman said the department undertakes "regular condition assessments" for NSW schools, including "monitoring known instances of contained asbestos to ensure they still pose no risk to staff and students". But officials refused to explain whether each of the 2185 schools with asbestos are checked each year.
It can also be revealed 431 NSW schools contain deadly "crocidolite" or "blue" asbestos, according to further Labor analysis of the register.
Blue asbestos is known to cause more harm than other asbestos forms because its fibres are thinner and more easily lodged in lung tissue.
It comes after an audit by the opposition revealed 109 schools had "friable asbestos", which easily crumbles when touched, while a further 988 schools had "damaged" asbestos. It's not known how much of the blue asbestos is in a damaged or friable state.
Labor's education spokeswoman Prue Car said the findings were "really scary".
"Almost half of NSW public schools have damaged asbestos in classrooms, toilets and other buildings like libraries. Now dangerous crocidolite has been uncovered in over 400 schools," she said. "If that asbestos becomes airborne it puts our children in danger."
