Asbestos Awareness in Education
Asbestos Awareness in Education is an online course of approximately 30-45 minutes for all school staff who could disturb the building fabric, including site and premises staff, teachers and teaching assistants putting up displays, technicians, cleaners, business managers and contractors working in schools. It covers asbestos in school buildings, the health risks, where it is found in schools, the register, everyday risks, and what to do if it is disturbed. Scored assessment, 0.75 CPD hours.
Description
Asbestos Awareness in Education is an online course of approximately 30-45 minutes for all school staff who could disturb the building fabric, including site and premises staff, teachers and teaching assistants putting up displays, technicians, cleaners, business managers and contractors working in schools.
The course has five short lessons:
- Asbestos in school buildings: Why many schools contain asbestos, the building types most likely to, and why you cannot tell by looking.
- The health risks: How asbestos fibres cause disease, the long delay before symptoms, why children matter, and the role of teachers.
- Where it is found in schools: The materials and places in school buildings most likely to contain asbestos.
- The asbestos register: The school's asbestos register and management plan, who the duty-holder is, and checking before any work.
- Everyday risks and if you disturb it: The everyday school actions that disturb asbestos, contractors, and what to do if you suspect asbestos has been disturbed.
Every teaching page is narrated with captions and includes an interaction. Each lesson before the last ends with a knowledge check, and the last lesson closes with a 12-question assessment drawn from all five lessons (70% to pass, unlimited retakes, results by lesson) and a set of personal commitments recorded with the result.
This course is asbestos awareness for school staff. It does not allow anyone to work with asbestos; licensed, notifiable non-licensed and non-licensed work each need task-specific training.
Main sources: DfE, Managing asbestos in your school; CAR 2012 regs 4, 5; HSE L143; HSE HSG264; HSE em1; HSE asbestos statistics 2026.
Qualification Breakdown
By the end of this course the learner will be able to:
- Recognise school building types and materials likely to contain asbestos.
- Explain why exposure matters, including for children.
- Find and check the school's asbestos register before work.
- Avoid the everyday actions that disturb asbestos in a school.
- Stop and report correctly if you suspect disturbance, and know who is responsible.
Certificate validity
1 year