Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 15 Jun 1999

Vol. 506 No. 2

Written Answers. - Chemicals Disposal.

Nora Owen

Question:

403 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Education and Science if superfluous chemicals and other scientific products will be removed from Chanel College, Coolock, Dublin 5 (details supplied) as to dispose of them will cost resources which the school does not have; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14947/99]

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. Martin)

My Department has been made aware by teachers and schools of concerns about the gradual accumulation, over a period of years, of unwanted chemicals which are no longer required for school work and also of chemicals in containers on which the labels are no longer present, and which cannot be identified. Responsibility for the management of their own chemical stocks and for ensuring the safety of students, staff and property rests with individual schools. My Department is co-operating with school management authorities in planning, developing and implementing a strategy to assist individual schools and teachers in dealing with the issue.

In October 1996, my Department published a manual, Safety in School Science: A Code of Practice, and issued it to all schools. It contains general guidelines for best practice in school science, including a section on laboratory organisation and management which deals with matters such as storage, stock control and waste disposal.

At the same time, my Department published a manual which it commissioned from Forbairt entitled Safety in the School Laboratory: Disposal of Chemicals. This manual gives clear guidelines on the disposal of individual chemicals which are commonly found in school science laboratories. The manual explains how most of these chemicals may be safely disposed of in schools in accordance with the instructions given. My Department also contracted Forbairt to operate a help-line to further assist schools at that time.

A questionnaire was issued to all second level schools asking them to identify and report on the amount of certain chemicals which are no longer required for school purposes and which could not be disposed of by the school in accordance with the guidelines given. The completed returns were collated and analysed by the curriculum development unit (CDU) of City of Dublin vocational education committee. A report by CDU of this analysis was issued to all schools in February 1998.

Having regard to the results of the survey, my Department in conjunction with CDU and the Health and Safety Authority arranged for a training programme to further assist and advise all second level schools on disposal and storage issues. The programme was conducted in April and June 1998 for science teachers from all second level schools. It is envisaged that this training programme will have enabled schools to further review their chemical stocks, to arrange for the safe storage of chemicals which will be required for future use and to arrange for the disposal of unwanted chemicals which can be disposed of safely in accordance with the guidelines already given. The curriculum development unit will update its database of unwanted chemicals held by schools in the context of this further work.

My Department has now established a pilot project in conjunction with the School Management Authorities, and the Health and Safety Authority on the collection of unwanted chemicals which cannot be disposed of by schools themselves. A working group including representatives of my Department, the Health and Safety Authority and the school authorities has been established to oversee this pilot project. This pilot project is being carried out in a number of community and comprehensive schools in the Dublin area. A request for tenders has issued to chemical disposal contractors and these proposals are currently being assessed.

Further elements of this strategy to assist schools in dealing with the issue will be developed based on the results of the pilot project and the development of the CDU database.