Tasmania’s education department has come under fire for telling school staff to handle potentially asbestos-contaminated sand without instructing them to wear protective gear.
Guidance sent to schools on November 14 was copied from an ACCC recall notice – except the department left out key instructions to wear disposable gloves, a P2 mask and protective eyewear.
The Australian Education Union said despite being told to bag up the suspect sand, schools received no protective equipment.
Education Secretary Ginna Webster admitted the mistake but couldn’t explain why her department used an incomplete version of the recall notice.
“I can’t explain why we’ve lifted one and not the other, but I think that is what is simply happened,” she said.
“It’s a mistake and we would absolutely looking at that in hindsight. That is my responsibility as secretary of the department.”
She said the department moved quickly to push information out to staff and had relied on the advice available at the time.
Education Minister Jo Palmer told a parliamentary estimates hearing she would have preferred “stronger language” in the guidance.
Australian Education Union state manager Brian Wightman said the response was unacceptable.
“Low risk does not mean safe,” he said. “Failing to instruct staff to wear PPE while handling asbestos-contaminated material is negligent by any standard.”
“This omission exposed educators and school staff to a completely avoidable hazard and it happened on the minister’s watch.”
More than 30 state schools were fully or partially closed on Wednesday after children’s coloured sand products were found to contain naturally occurring asbestos.
Schools were notified of the recall on Friday, but Palmer didn’t make any public comment until Tuesday.
The union also took aim at the department for requiring staff to attend schools deemed too unsafe for students.
“Everyone knows sand goes everywhere,” Wightman said.
“Educators are saying the sand has been spread to ‘every crevice’ of their schools, not just the rooms it was used in.”
“We are concerned the minister is continuing to downplay a very serious safety issue and continuing to needlessly place staff in danger.”
Communication with parents was equally chaotic and confusing.
When closures were announced just after 4pm on Tuesday, the department initially listed 29 full closures and 16 partial closures.
The list was then quietly updated several times, with schools including West Launceston Primary and Taroona Primary removed without any notice.
Confused staff were left to contact parents directly to correct the incorrect information, while schools scrambled to update online notices.
Labor leader Josh Willie questioned why state schools were slower to act than independent and Catholic schools once WorkSafe updated its advice.
“Within a Tasmanian context, minister, the response was slow,” he said. “… We had a delayed response from the state system.”
Palmer defended the response as “calm and responsible”, repeatedly pointing to low-risk assessments from the ACCC, WorkSafe, the Commonwealth Department of Health and Tasmanian health officials.
“I do want to emphasise that the advice that we’ve received from the very beginning of this alert from the ACCC last week has always maintained that the actual risk to students, staff and families is low,” she said.
“And I believe the wording is now moving towards very low.”
“So the actions that we are undertaking are certainly very much of that precautionary nature.”
Public schools to be closed on Thursday will be confirmed by the Department for Education, Children and Young People later this afternoon.
