Public Schools Branch ordered to pay $50K for asbestos infractions

The Public Schools Branch has been ordered to pay $50,000 after pleading guilty to health and safety infractions involving an incident with asbestos in Mount Stewart Consolidated School.

The details of the incident were made public for the first time at a sentencing hearing Tuesday in provincial court in Charlottetown.

"There were missteps and the Public Schools Branch acknowledges the missteps," PSB director Norbert Carpenter said after sentence was handed down.

"It is a bigger picture event in the sense that we do need to do a better job of educating our employees and having an asbestos management plan."

A leaky boiler

In July 2020, a custodian discovered a leaky boiler in the furnace room of Mount Stewart Consolidated, according to facts read in court. The boiler was drained and repaired, but two PSB maintenance staff suspected pipes around the boiler might be coated with asbestos.

They sent a sample for testing, and a private lab confirmed the sample contained 60 per cent chrysolite asbestos.

But those lab results went no further than the desk of PSB's property services manager, according to court documents, because the manager mistakenly believed the lab report referred to a previous test.

"Maintenance staff left insulation, pipe and debris on the floor in the boiler room," the court documents read.

"Custodians and other staff frequently entered the boiler room to access a washing machine and dryer located at the back of the room."

Materials mishandled

In September 2020, the fire marshal's office conducted an inspection of the school and recommended the debris be cleaned up as a possible fire hazard..

According to the facts read in court, "a custodian cleaned up the mess and disposed of it through the boiler room's exterior utility doors."

In October, one of the two maintenance staff members who first suspected the presence of asbestos returned to the school and realized the hazardous materials had been mishandled.

That lead to an investigation, charges, and guilty pleas to two charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

"Charges stemmed from that incident of individuals not handling proper protocol when it came to that work," said Carpenter. "We have put many steps into action since that occurred."

PSB taking action

The Public Schools Branch was fined $5,000 and ordered to pay an additional $45,000 penalty which will go to the Workers Compensation Board for education in workplace safety related to asbestos.

PSB officials told the court they are now conducting assessments for the presence of hazardous materials, including asbestos, in 47 of the province's 56 schools.

"We'll be rolling out an individual plan for every site in the Public Schools Branch," said Carpenter.

"So that schools know, vendors know and staff know where there are hazards in the building and what to do when you're doing work in those sites."

The PSB also says it has hired a school safety consultant and updated training for key staff, including principals and maintenance employees.

Subsequent testing showed asbestos levels in the air of the furnace room were within safe limits and no asbestos was detected in air in any other part of the school. Clean-up of asbestos in the furnace room of the school is now complete.

This was the first court case in P.E.I. involving asbestos handling, according to the provincial Crown prosecutor.