More than 50 Tasmanian schools are closed or partially closed in response to the Australian consumer watchdog’s recall of coloured sand products containing traces of asbestos.
The asbestos that has been found in some coloured sand products is naturally occurring, and advice from officials and experts so far has been that the risk of exposure is low.
Read more about the coloured sand recall
Tasmania’s education minister, Jo Palmer, said expert advice from an accredited asbestos consultant had been sought, and an audit of 200 sites in 24 hours conducted to identify schools impacted by possible asbestos exposure.
Jo Palmer says more than 200 sites were audited for asbestos sand contamination.
“We felt that we needed to take it a step further, and take a really precautionary measure, despite the fact that we have consistently been told that it is a low-risk situation,”
Ms Palmer said.
“In light of the confusion that we are seeing right around Australia, and different responses in different states and territories, and even different responses with independent schools and with catholic schools right across Australia, we felt it was important to take a further step.”
The closures include public, faith-based and independent schools.
The Department’s list of closures is expected to change daily as schools are cleaned and sites reopened.
Parents and carers are asked to check the education department’s website, Catholic Education Tasmania, or through independent school websites for the latest closures.
Full school closure
- Bagdad Primary School
- Bellerive Primary School
- Brighton Primary School
- Campbell Street Primary School
- Clarendon Vale Primary School
- Collinsvale Primary School
- Dodges Ferry Primary School
- Glenorchy Primary School
- Howrah Primary School
- JRLF — East Derwent Primary School
- JRLF — Herdsmans Cove Primary School
- JRLF — Gagebrook Primary School
- Lauderdale Primary School
- Lenah Valley Primary School
- Lindisfarne North Primary School
- Montagu Bay Primary School
- Mount Nelson Primary School
- Mount Stuart Primary School
- New Norfolk Primary School
- Princes Street Primary School
- Rokeby Primary School
- Romaine Park Primary School
- Sandy Bay Infant School
- Sorell School
- Springfield Gardens Primary School
- Warrane Primary School
- Windermere Primary School
- Corpus Christi Catholic School, Bellerive
- Sacred Heart Catholic School, Geeveston
- St Brigid’s Catholic School, Wynyard
- St John’s Catholic School, Richmond
- St Peter Chanel Catholic School, Smithton
- St Cuthbert’s Catholic School, Lindisfarne
Partial school closures
- Beaconsfield Primary School
- Illawarra Primary School
- Kingston Primary School
- Latrobe Primary School
- Penguin District School
- Perth Primary School
- Reece High School
- Sheffield School
- Spreyton Primary School
- South Arm Primary School
- Ulverstone Primary School
- John Paul II Catholic School Rokeby (K-2 closed)
- Dominic College Glenorchy (K-2 closed)
- St Thomas More’s Catholic School Newstead (Kinder – Prep closed)
- Sacred Heart College, New Town (K-5 closed)
- St Aloysius Catholic College, Kingston (K-4 closed)
- Immaculate Heart Catholic School, Lenah Valley (Kinder and Prep)
- The Friends’ School (Early Learning, Primary and Middle School closed)
- St Michael’s Collegiate School (Early Learning Centre, Junior School and Outside School Hours Care closed)
- Hutchins (Early Learning Centre and Junior School closed)
Non-government school closures
The announcement of the government school closures come after at least a dozen non-government Tasmanian schools closed or partially closed on Tuesday.
Catholic Education Tasmania confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that an additional three catholic schools would be partially closed from Wednesday, bringing the total number of affected faith-based schools to 12.
Area safe if cleaned, assessor advised
Department secretary Ginna Webster said the ACCC and WorkSafe Tasmania’s advice had been followed since last week’s recall and that an accredited asbestos assessor was engaged on Monday.
She said the assessor’s advice was that an area was safe if it had been cleaned after the last use of sand.
Ginna Webster said the school audit decision was made out of an “abundance of caution”. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
But Ms Webster said she made the decision to audit any school that had used the sand in the last seven days out of an “abundance of caution”.
“We have done a complete audit of those schools and determined that they should isolate the area,” she said.
“If they can’t isolate the area, they should relocate the classroom or the area, and if they can’t do that then we have taken the step to close.
“The audit was around which schools has the sand, which schools had sealed containers of the sand, which schools had opened the sand, and which classrooms had opened the sand.”
Ms Webster said schools would reopen once they had been cleaned and that the department was seeking advice on what cleaning was required.
What to do if you have the recalled products at home
Worksafe Tasmania said anyone who had any of the affected sand products should stop using it immediately, wear protective gear — disposable gloves, a P2-rated mask and protective eyewear — when handling the product or preparing it for disposal.
For disposal, the products should be double bagged in heavy duty plastic bags, securely taped and labelled “Contains asbestos — do not open”.
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The products should not be disposed of in general waste bins. People are asked to contact their council’s hazardous waste facility or the relevant asbestos disposal site.
Southern Waste Solutions is also offering a free disposal service at its waste transfer station in Hobart’s northern suburbs.
Southern Waste Solutions chief executive Nick Gifford said anyone with the recalled sand products could bring it to the waste transfer station at 129 Derwent Park Road, in Lutana.
“Bring it double bagged … and our staff onsite and our head office there will help you,” Mr Gifford told ABC Radio Hobart.
“We’ll keep this going for as long as [we] need to … so that it doesn’t get put into our general wheelie bins or somewhere it shouldn’t be.”
Single instruction ‘preferable’, union says
Australian Education Union Tasmanian branch president David Genford said it had been disappointing to not have a uniform approach to closures during the first days of the health alert.
What to know about the coloured sand recall
“It would have been preferable for the [education] minister to come out and give one set of instructions to all schools [public and private],” Mr Genford said, speaking prior to Tuesday’s announcement.
“We firmly believe any classrooms that have been using the sand, and anything else that has been recalled, need to be closed until a thorough clean can be made.
“If schools are in a situation where they’re unable to relocate students … because of the classroom closures, we feel as though schools should be looking at closing to ensure there is a safe environment for staff and students.”
David Genford says we need to make sure people are kept safe. (ABC News: Kate Nickels)
Mr Genford said prior to the minister’s statement on Tuesday afternoon, state school staff members had been “concerned”.
“When you see some schools closing and your school not closing, there are questions as to why,”
he said.
“It’s obviously no-one’s fault the sand has ended up in the schools, but we need to ensure we take the right actions to make sure people are kept safe.”
Bellerive father Nicholas Meredith has one child impacted by the closures and another still at school.
Hobart father, Nicholas Meredith said while he has one child at home due to the closures, he has another still attending classes at Bellerive Primary School.
“I’ve got a boy at The Friends School and he’s at home today, as well as tomorrow we’ve just heard,” he said.
“I feel like the public schools are a few days behind.”
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