The naturally occurring fibrous mineral known as asbestos has not been legal to use in the UK since a final ban was imposed on all types of the substance in late 1999. However, with around 5,000 people per year in this country still dying from asbestos-related disease, it sadly cannot be said that asbestos has become irrelevant or a merely “historical” issue.
For the bulk of the 20th century, asbestos was widely regarded as a “wonder material”. Relatively affordable and easily obtainable, as well as physically strong and resistant to heat, fire, and chemicals, this mineral was extensively used in the construction of schools across the UK.
By around the 1970s, however, increasing awareness of the health dangers of asbestos culminated in efforts to outlaw it. Even to this day, though, asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) remain present in many UK schools – a situation that necessitates proactive and careful management.
Why is asbestos still a critical issue in UK schools?
With research having indicated that around 80% of UK state schools still contain asbestos, the health risks presented by this substance have clearly not gone away.
For any given UK school building dating to before the year 2000, there is a strong likelihood of ACMs – such as asbestos cement roof tiles, asbestos insulating board (AIB), and/or asbestos sprayed coatings – still being present.
If disturbance is caused to any of these materials in a building – as can occur due to such activities as drilling, cutting, or sawing during construction, repairs, or maintenance work – this can cause loose asbestos fibres to be released and breathed in by someone nearby. This, in turn, can heighten the exposed individual’s chances of developing an asbestos-related disease, such as mesothelioma or asbestos-related lung cancer, in later life.
Even putting to one side the health considerations, asbestos is a critical issue in UK schools due to the associated legal obligations. The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR 2012) is the overarching asbestos legislation for Great Britain; it imposes a “duty to manage” asbestos for non-domestic premises across the country, including schools.
What are the key challenges schools face in managing asbestos?
There are various major challenges and issues that schools must deal with when they are seeking to manage asbestos on their premises:
- Ageing infrastructure: even the newest ACMs in UK buildings are now several decades old. As ACMs age, there can be greater scope for them to deteriorate. This can then increase the likelihood of dangerous asbestos fibres being released into the air.
- Frequent renovations and maintenance: even relatively small-scale projects in UK school buildings can bring a risk of ACM disturbance.
- Data fragmentation: as the “dutyholders” for a given school estate seek to maintain documentation on the asbestos in their buildings, issues can easily arise with paper-based asbestos registers and uncoordinated records.
- Compliance complexity: it can be a trying task to keep on top of the legal obligations for managing asbestos in a school, while also managing the various stakeholders such as school leaders, school staff, contractors, local authorities, regulatory bodies, and concerned parents and students.
How can asbestos management software improve compliance?
Given all the disorganisation and chaos that can easily occur when you are attempting to manage ACMs in a compliant and responsible manner at your school, you will almost certainly appreciate the following benefits that asbestos management software can bring:
- Automated asbestos registers and inspections: with a single, centralised, and cloud-based software solution, you can ensure your digital records in relation to asbestos management at your school are kept updated in real-time.
- Real-time risk assessments: as part of a leading asbestos management software package, mobile tools can be provided for the ongoing monitoring of ACMs.
- Regulatory reporting: you are advised to seek out an asbestos management platform that can produce automated compliance reports aligned with CAR 2012.
- Staff training and awareness: if your favoured software also integrates training modules for both dutyholders and employees, this will further help ensure your school is always on the right side of the UK’s stringent legal requirements for asbestos management.
What features should schools look for in asbestos management software?
As you narrow down your options for an asbestos risk management platform, we would urge you to prioritise ensuring the below features are included:
- Centralised data repositories: as of the mid-2020s, the best asbestos management systems tend to be those that provide a single, central “headquarters” for storing, managing, and editing digital asbestos registers. When your chosen platform also makes use of geolocation mapping, this will further support easy and efficient management.
- Cloud-based accessibility: as we touched on above, there can be many different stakeholders involved in asbestos management at a school. This is why it can be a very sensible idea to adopt an online-based asbestos management platform that multiple users can easily access, with updates able to be made in real time.
- Automated alerts and scheduling: the responsible and effective management of asbestos in a school is an ongoing process, rather than a one-time act. If your chosen asbestos management software can provide reminders for re-inspections and maintenance tasks, you can help ensure this will be the case at your school.
- Contractor access and safety integration: QR code-based asbestos registers can enable third-party professionals at your school site to instantly access the information they need about ACMs on your premises.
How does software enhance safety for students, staff, and contractors?
You might be wondering whether it is truly necessary to switch to a cloud software-based approach to managing ACMs at your school. After all, you may seem to be coping “OK” with a combination of paper-based records and spreadsheets.
However, it is crucial to appreciate the following benefits that platforms such as our own Vision Pro Software can have for safety:
- The minimisation of ACM disturbance risks: your school’s dependence on more “traditional” methods can heighten the risk that vital stakeholders – such as those who may need to carry out maintenance work on your premises – might not have access to the most up-to-date information about ACMs at the site. This, in turn, can drive up the likelihood of ACMs being accidentally disturbed.
- Emergency response support: the adoption of cloud-based asbestos management software can allow for the tighter integration of asbestos management plans with your school’s safety procedures.
- The reduction of accidental exposures: when you are using digital tools that keep you informed of the exact location(s) and status of ACMs around your school premises, you can help ensure non-compliant work with asbestos materials does not occur.
What are the cost and efficiency benefits of using software?
There are strong reasons to embrace the use of dedicated asbestos management software, beyond the immediate safety benefits. The advantages from a cost and efficiency perspective can include:
- The reduction of the need for repeated surveys: centralised, online-accessible records minimise the scope for duplication when it comes to all manner of asbestos management interventions, including the need for quite so many full inspections.
- The lowering of long-term asbestos management costs: utilising the predictive analytics embedded in a leading ACM management platform can enable you to more easily prioritise high-risk asbestos materials.
- The saving of administrative time: anyone who has ever attempted to use manual documentation methods for the management of asbestos at a school, knows how time-consuming and cumbersome this can be. By contrast, digital recordkeeping using the right software platform can allow for a much more intuitive and efficient process.
How can schools get started with asbestos management software?
Presuming you are reading this as a key decision-maker for your school premises in terms of its asbestos management, there are steps you can take right now to decide on, and then adopt, appropriate asbestos management software.
They include:
- Assessing your school’s current asbestos management practices
This process will need to entail scrutinising a wide range of aspects of how you presently deal with ACMs at your school. You will need, for example, to review existing asbestos survey reports, check whether a comprehensive management plan is already in place at your site, conduct a visual inspection of your building, and confirm that all relevant staff members have received appropriate asbestos awareness training.
As you go through these procedures, certain gaps in your school’s asbestos compliance efforts may become evident. Whatever asbestos management platform you ultimately invest in, it will need to be well-suited to filling any such compliance gaps.
- Choosing the right asbestos management software
To whittle down the list of possible asbestos management platforms for your school site, you will need to give careful thought to a wide range of factors.
These aspects are likely to encompass – but will not be limited to – the user-friendliness of the given software’s interfaces, as well as its ability to store in-depth asbestos survey data, and to generate comprehensive management plans. You should also look carefully at each platform’s tracking and reporting capabilities.
Naturally, it will also be vital to consider how all these features will help you manage asbestos compliance activities at your school.
- Implementing the software platform and providing training
As you embed your chosen asbestos management software into your school’s management of ACMs, you will need to make sure internal staff members and outside contractors alike can easily get adjusted to, and effectively use, this new system.
How can Vision Pro Software assist in managing asbestos in schools and colleges?
Below are some of the crucial ways in which our industry-leading Vision Pro Software can help take the stress out of managing ACMs at an educational premises, at the same time as ensuring effective, compliant, and safe practices:
- It centralises asbestos data management: our platform gives users the ability to create a comprehensive digital asbestos register, complete with CAD mapping. This allows for the most accurate possible tracking of ACMs.
- It allows users to monitor ACMs in real time: a key element of the Vision Pro Software package is the accompanying mobile app. This enables on-site updates, even when the user is offline, with fully integrated photo and video capture.
- It automates many crucial compliance processes: our platform can issue alerts for vital inspection and maintenance tasks, thereby helping to ensure important steps are not missed. The industry-leading live reporting tools incorporated into our software further help ensure adherence to CAR 2012 requirements.
- It assists with contractor collaboration: workers from outside your school’s in-house management team will be able to use our software to gain secure access to asbestos data, digital permits, and risk briefings. This, in turn, will help them ensure compliance and safety across all aspects of their work that could put them in contact with ACMs.
- It incorporates asset tagging and tracking capabilities: the real-time status updates provided by Vision Pro Software help make especially efficient ACM monitoring a reality.
Taken together, such features and perks as those detailed above will support improved safety, cost savings, and simplified compliance processes for ACMs at your school premises.
Conclusion: why schools need a digital approach to asbestos management
Asbestos management is definitely one process where building owners, managers, and dutyholders cannot depend on simply continuing the practices that might have always seemed to work for them in the past.
Indeed, at your school, it is crucial to commit yourself to the relentless and continual modernisation of asbestos management. This way, you can be sure of always meeting the latest legal, safety, and financial requirements.
A sophisticated, feature-rich, and up-to-the-minute platform like our own asbestos management software can very much support this, helping to minimise risk and enhance operational efficiency.
If, then, you are a school dutyholder, why wait any longer to look at – and invest in – a scalable digital solution for the management of asbestos at your premises? Don’t hesitate to contact us today about our Vision Pro Software, so that we can introduce you more deeply to its capabilities.
