Asbestos Incident Management Procedure

The purpose of this procedure is to outline the responsibilities and processes to be followed following an incident involving asbestos or ACM in NSW Department of Education workplaces.

This Asbestos Incident Management Procedure is intended to be read by NSW Department of Education workers, their health and safety representatives, and other people working with or around asbestos at NSW Department of Education facilities.
This procedure provides directions to staff for incidents that occur during:

• Normal business operations i.e., school activities; and
• works undertaken by contractors, where the incident affects or potentially affects the safety of the school community and/or contractors:
  
  • during the facility’s business operations. For example, potential exposure to asbestos because a contractor accidentally damages ACM during school operations; or
  • when facility operations recommence. For example, works conducted during weekends or holidays leave behind assumed or confirmed asbestos and ACM with unsealed penetrations.

This procedure outlines the responsibilities and process to be followed in the incidents defined below:

Accidental Disturbance

An accidental disturbance is a disturbance of confirmed or suspected asbestos or ACM other than where the disturbance is planned asbestos work. An accidental disturbance may be associated with an unexpected find or may be a known material. An accidental disturbance may also be where a material’s condition has deteriorated to such an extent that it is no longer intact, for example lagging falling from its original position or fire damage to fibre cement sheeting.

Accidental disturbance incidents may include:

• activities that are prohibited under WHS legislation, such as any work on friable asbestos or ACM;
• damage to asbestos or ACM due to weather, environment or structural effects;
  
• accidental damage, for example, breakage of an ACM wall caused by student activities;
• intentional damage, for example, vandalism of building containing assumed or known ACM;
• unauthorised asbestos work, for example, a staff member using a battery powered drill and drilling a hole into ACM; or
• the presence of potentially unsafe material that is accessible post work, for example discovery of dust deposits below an area where a light or air conditioning unit has been installed on ACM.

Unexpected Find

An unexpected find is the identification of an ACM which is not listed in the site asbestos register or SAMP, other than a find as part of hazard identification activities (such as an intrusive asbestos survey in preparation for a project).

Unexpected finds incidents may include:

• ACM material found on school grounds, for example, ACM found on a school oval or playground;
• vinyl floor tiles discovered underneath the carpet in a school facility; or
• the unexpected discovery of deposits of debris resembling ACM debris for example behind a cupboard in a storeroom, or in a ceiling void.

All workers, including staff, contractors and volunteers, have a responsibility to:

• obtain authorisation from the relevant Asset Management Unit prior to performing building works;
• in the event of an asbestos-related incident, immediately:
  • stop work;
  • isolate the area; and
  • inform the principal or workplace manager as soon as possible.

The principal or Workplace Manager (in the case of an operational school site) or Site Manager (in the case of a construction site) has a responsibility to:

• Initiate and follow the Asbestos Incident Management Process outlined below in the event of an asbestos incident.

School Infrastructure have a responsibility to:

• Follow the Asbestos Incident Management Process outlined below in the event of an asbestos incident.
• Ensure that the asbestos register is updated as required following an asbestos incident.

The HSSW Directorate have a responsibility to:

• follow the Asbestos Incident Management Process outlined below in the event of an asbestos incident;
• notify SafeWork NSW in the event of a notifiable incident (see section 'notifiable incidents');
• implement the incident notification and response procedure.

The workflow above provides each step to be followed in the event of an asbestos incident. Where the workflow alone may be insufficient information for a person to follow, further information to supplement key areas of the Asbestos Incident Management Process is provided in the following sections. Note that this is not a complete list of the elements in the Asbestos Incident Management Process.

Isolation can be achieved by any means of restricting access to the area without impacting emergency access and egress. The exact method that is used to isolate the area will depend on the specifics of the incident and the location. Consider:

• locking the door/s to the area;
• installing barricading; and
• signage instructing people not to enter.

The person who identifies or disturbs the asbestos or ACM should initially isolate the area as much as is possible with the equipment that they have available to them. As an example, a teacher may initially isolate an area by locking a door. Under no circumstances should staff disturb material suspected to be ACM or attempt to clean up an area affected by an asbestos incident.

The principal or Workplace Manager will review the measures in place and implement further isolation controls if required. For an outdoor area as an example, the principal may gain assistance from other staff to ensure that the area is isolated.

Isolation can also require minimising the spread of asbestos fibres which may be on a person. For example, where asbestos disturbance has contaminated a worker’s clothing, this should be removed before exiting the area if safe to do so. Alternatively, the clothing, head and face of the individual could be dampened with water to limit dust becoming airborne.

Removal and disposal of clothing contaminated, or suspected to be contaminated, with asbestos or ACM should follow the requirements provided in the Asbestos Management Procedure.

Notification to SafeWork NSW of ACM incidents is the responsibility of Health Safety and Staff Wellbeing Directorate where required.

Under the WHS Act, a notifiable incident is:

• the death of a person;
• a serious injury or illness; or
• a ‘dangerous incident’.

A dangerous incident is an incident in relation to the workplace that exposes a worker or another person to a serious risk to a person’s health or safety due to immediate or imminent exposure to a range of hazards, which includes asbestos. It includes near misses where no-one is injured.

Therefore, an asbestos-related incident would be classified as a dangerous incident if it exposes a worker or any other person to a serious risk to their health or safety due to an immediate or imminent exposure to asbestos or ACM.

A notifiable incident must be immediately notified to SafeWork NSW and the scene of the incident must be preserved until SafeWork NSW releases the site. The only exemption to this is where actions are needed to assist an injured person, make a site safe or facilitate a police investigation.

The NSW Department of Education will notify SafeWork NSW in the following asbestos-related incidents relating to NSW Department of Education works:

1. where an accidental disturbance of friable asbestos has, or could have, exposed a person to airborne asbestos fibres;
2. where an accidental disturbance involving non-friable asbestos and a tool, including pressure washing, has or could have exposed a person to airborne asbestos fibres; or
3. where students and/or staff are in the immediate vicinity of the accidental disturbance of ACM as detailed in 1 or 2 above.

Other factors may increase the actual or perceived risk, including but not limited to the:

• extent of the disturbance of asbestos or ACM; or
• potential of exposure to students and the community.

Where there is doubt about whether the threshold above has been met, HSSW may err on the side of caution and notify. HSSW can also seek privileged internal or external legal advice for clarification. HSSW should also consult SafeWork NSW guidance which was prepared specifically for the Department of Education to remedy overreporting of asbestos incidents. The guidance scenarios are reproduced in the section 'Example Scenarios from SafeWork NSW'.

Where the asbestos related incident involves a Principal Contractor (for example engaged under a GC21 contract), the Principal Contractor is required to notify SafeWork NSW of the incident immediately and must also notify the NSW Department of Education. The NSW Department of Education must satisfy itself that SafeWork NSW has been appropriately notified or otherwise notify SafeWork NSW itself.

A notifiable incident will be taken to represent an exposure or potential exposure to asbestos. Events which do not meet the threshold of notifiable incident should not be referred to as an “exposure to asbestos”, except in extreme circumstances.

Note: Unexpected finds should not be routinely notified to SafeWork NSW, except where they meet the threshold above. An unexpected find of non-friable material, such as fibre cement debris (fragment), without mechanical action by a power tool, does not constitute a dangerous incident even if the material is handled by a worker or student.

Remediation can include minor temporary make-safe works to a full removal of the material.

The remediation requirements will vary but the initial response may include:

• make-safe works to prevent further harm to people or the environment; and
• sampling of materials or the air by a competent person such as an occupational hygienist.

Further detail on asbestos-related works can be found in the department’s Asbestos Management Procedure.

Further actions not listed in the Asbestos Incident Management Process may be required on a case-by-case basis. Based on the situation, consideration should be given to:

• internal escalation, for example to the relevant Executive Director;
• further measures for managing community concern; and
• other actions required in the specific circumstances.

An emergency can occur if a building, structure or plant is structurally unsound or the collapse of a building, structure or plant is imminent.

If an emergency occurs and requires demolition, a procedure must be developed in consultation with a competent person / licensed asbestos assessor that will, as far as reasonably practicable, reduce the exposure to asbestos of workers and persons in the vicinity of the demolition site to a level below the exposure standard before the demolition work starts. SafeWork NSW must also be provided with written notice of the emergency immediately after they become aware of the emergency and before the demolition starts.

Unexpected finds or accidental disturbances could occur from vandalism (for example, damage to asbestos or ACM) or illegal dumping. In addition to the process outlined above, instances of vandalism and illegal dumping should be reported to the following:

• The local police station.
• The School Security Unit on 1300 880 021.
• The NSW Environment Protection Authority on 131 555 (for illegal dumping).

The following table has been reproduced from SafeWork NSW guidance to assist the NSW Department of Education with understanding what scenarios are notifiable incidents and which are not. Note that the recommendations below constitute legislative obligations relating to asbestos management. Other requirements are specified elsewhere in this procedure.