Responsibilities for managing asbestos

Information on who is responsible for managing asbestos, under regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR).

Employers

The employer of school or college staff may be a ‘dutyholder’ under regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR). Even where an employer is not a ‘dutyholder’, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA) requires employers of school and college staff to:

  • protect the health and safety of their employees at work
  • ensure pupils, students, visitors and all other persons that use the school or college premises are protected from harm to their health and safety from known or foreseeable risks

Whilst the employer can delegate responsibilities, functions or roles to staff, the ‘duty’ cannot be delegated and rests with the employer.

The employer should:

  • support governing bodies and leadership teams to ensure that there are suitable arrangements in place to manage the asbestos materials within a school
  • regularly monitor the effectiveness of the arrangements to ensure that the risks are controlled
  • ensure that all staff with delegated responsibilities in this area are suitably trained to undertake their role – this is particularly relevant where budgets are delegated to the school, but where the local authority or a separate academy trust employs the staff

Employers should allocate resources to train staff with delegated responsibility, including:

  • arranging awareness training for staff
  • ensuring that staff have enough contracted time to undertake their asbestos management responsibilities
  • engaging with trade unions and employee representative groups on the effective management of asbestos

The employer varies depending upon the type of school. HSE provides guidance on responsibility for health and safety within school. The local authority is the employer for:

  • community and community special schools
  • voluntary-controlled schools
  • maintained nursery schools
  • pupil referral units

The governing body is the employer for:

  • foundation and foundation special schools
  • voluntary-aided schools

The school’s proprietor (the academy trust for academies and free schools) is the employer in:

  • academies
  • free schools
  • other independent schools

For further education colleges and sixth form colleges the corporation is the employer, unless there are any particular arrangements through which employees are provided under a service level agreement with another organisation.

Dutyholders

Under regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR), legal responsibility for the safe management of asbestos lies with the ‘dutyholder’. A dutyholder is anyone who has, by virtue of a contract or tenancy, any maintenance or repair obligations in respect of the school or college premises or any means of access to or egress from the premises. Otherwise, where there is no contract or tenancy, the dutyholder will be anyone who has any control over any part of the school or college premises or any means of access to or egress from the premises.

Schools and colleges should identify who the dutyholders are for their premises, noting that this may be individual persons or corporate bodies. They should include this in their asbestos management plan. It is likely that governing bodies of schools and colleges and the owner of the school or college land and premises may share responsibility. Other bodies may also have responsibility, such as church and other faith bodies.

Who the dutyholder is will depend on the local circumstances, and there may be more than one dutyholder.

A local authority is likely to be a dutyholder for a local authority maintained school.

An academy trust is likely to be a dutyholder for a single academy or multi-academy trust.

In voluntary aided schools, the board of governors will be the dutyholder for the school buildings and others will be the dutyholder for the playing fields and associated structures.

In the case of foundation schools, the dutyholder’s responsibilities may lie with several individuals or corporate bodies.

For further education and sixth form colleges, the corporation is likely to be the dutyholder.

In certain cases, schools and colleges may need to seek legal advice to confirm who the dutyholders are for their premises.

Appointed person

Dutyholders should identify a person (and in some cases a deputy) within their organisation who will be responsible for ensuring that asbestos materials are properly managed. An appointed person will be even more important where the dutyholder has a large or complex buildings portfolio and multiple employers.

The appointed person will need the resources, skills, training and authority to ensure the asbestos materials are managed effectively.

An ‘appointed person’ is not a statutory role and does not remove the legal obligations of the dutyholder. Further information can be found in HSE’s Asbestos: The survey guide HSG264 (paragraph 14).

School and college staff

Even if you are not the legal dutyholder in your school or college, it is still your responsibility to play your part in the safe management of asbestos.

All staff and workers in your school or college should receive adequate training and understand what precautions, detailed in the asbestos management plan (AMP), to follow (see step 4. Trade union health and safety representatives can use their regular health and safety inspections to raise awareness of asbestos and discuss concerns with their members and management.

It is good practice for schools to provide information about the presence of asbestos to parents and carers, and to assure them that effective management arrangements are in place. If parents and carers request information, schools should provide clear and accurate information. HSE explains that if asbestos management arrangements fail and there is an accidental release of asbestos fibres, those affected should be informed. See the section on what to do if things go wrong.