A LEADING Scottish university has been found to not have a working asbestos register, according to fresh research.
Research carried out by start-up investigative platform Confront Power discovered through Freedom of Information requests the University of St Andrews could not provide information when it was asked for an asbestos register, with bosses saying this was previously held on a third-party system which the university no longer has access to.
It is in the process of constructing a new register, bosses have said, and it is expected this will be complete by the end of the year.
The dangers of this material are well-known with those exposed to it suffering from conditions like asbestosis – an inflammatory condition affecting the lungs.
The overall research found that despite the UK banning all forms of asbestos since 1999, some of the UK’s leading universities are struggling to fully manage the extensive asbestos still in their buildings.
Tom Quinn, editor of Confront Power, described it as a “big problem” that St Andrews does not currently have a working register, given that having an up-to-date one is mandatory.
According to the Health and Safety Executive, this should include “all known and presumed asbestos-containing materials in your buildings, its type, how much asbestos there is and its condition, including dates of the original and last inspection".
Speaking to The National about the findings, Quinn said: “Every university has to have an asbestos management plan and the asbestos regulations are quite detailed, there’s a lot of stuff you have to do.
“The register is fundamental. If you don’t know what you’ve got and you can’t share that information, that’s a big problem.
“Where does the risk come from with asbestos? It comes from things degrading over time, so you’ve got to have a natural cycle over time making sure things haven’t changed substantially, but also from workers like electricians or plumbers coming in.
“The danger from all of this stuff is you won’t know until you’re no longer in the job most likely that there’s been a consequence from that.”
The research showed St Andrews had spent £3.32 million in the last 10 years on asbestos removal and associated costs.
Elsewhere, research showed there are 1935 known asbestos-containing materials in buildings at the University of Aberdeen – most of them low-risk.
The University of Edinburgh, according to the data collected, has 3630 asbestos-containing materials in its buildings. Again, these were mostly low-risk but for more than 400 of them, the risk level was unclassified.
The University of Aberdeen has spent £2m since 2014 on asbestos removal and associated costs while Edinburgh has spent £16.27m.
A University of St Andrews spokesperson said: “The university is well underway with the process of establishing a robust new asbestos register, which is expected to be complete by the end of this year.
“The process involves internal auditing and re-inspection surveys of 134 buildings and updating each risk assessment, as well as a desktop review of all available asbestos information on each property including CAD drawings, and the entry of all relevant information into our project management database to form the new asbestos register system.
“The goal of the Control of Asbestos Regulations is to prevent exposure to asbestos. In this interim period, through an abundance of caution, the university has implemented a series of robust additional processes to support this goal, and to comply with all other relevant parts of the Control of Asbestos Regulations.
“The £3.3m figure reported relates to any process or item related to asbestos – for example surveys, remedial work, or removal.”
A University of Aberdeen spokesperson said: “We are an ancient University and have buildings constructed across different eras. As such, a number contain asbestos. We monitor these and conduct removal work on a regular basis to ensure we comply with the Control of Asbestos Regulations.
“The vast majority of the asbestos is categorised as low risk because we have removed much of what would otherwise be high or medium risk and are actively monitoring and managing the remainder. The university records this in a register which is in line with industry standards.”
A University of Edinburgh spokesperson said: “The university is the owner of the largest, most diverse estate of any university in Scotland. The level of asbestos in our buildings is consistent with any estate of the university’s size and age.
"We are constantly maintaining and modernising our estate and have statutory responsibilities in terms of asbestos management. We routinely carry out surveys, monitoring and removals which follow best practice and are in line with our legislative responsibilities.”
