Castle Hill High: Student cleaned asbestos-filled room, teachers feared for jobs over SafeWork warning

Students were tasked with cleaning out a room later found to have contained airborne asbestos at a high-performing Sydney high school as teachers feared for their jobs over alerting SafeWork.

Teachers at a western Sydney high school have revealed they unknowingly tasked students with cleaning a storeroom containing airborne asbestos.

The claims, which came to light as a result of a parliamentary inquiry into airborne asbestos at Castle Hill High School, also revealed independent assessors hired by the NSW Education Department were told by staff a long-serving casual teacher died from mesothelioma after several years working at the school.

Another teacher said they were “subject to testing” after a “cluster of cancer patients” were uncovered.

Students at Castle Hill High School were tasked with cleaning out a storeroom later found to be filled with airborne asbestos fibres. Picture by Damian Shaw

In September, a parliamentary inquiry heard asbestos rained down on teachers at Castle Hill High School, with 76 instances of the deadly fibres reported between 2008 and 2014.

However, internal documents — including minutes of meetings between teachers and independent assessors — revealed staff feared for their jobs, suggesting they could be “in hot water” for raising the alarm.

Thousands of NSW Government documents, obtained as part of a parliamentary request for information by One Nation MLC Mark Latham, reveal internal communications between staff, independent assessors and the Education Department uncovered a series of documented concerns around school executives handling of the situation.

In one meeting with teachers and an independent air assessor, principal Vicki Brewer agreed to leave the question and answer session following concerns from staff.

The minutes revealed staff were told the fibres found throughout the school were from a “rare kind” of asbestos not previously identified as part of early works for redevelopment plans of Castle Hill High.

Castle Hill MP Ray Williams pictured outside Castle Hill High school with a asbestos report. Asbestos has been found at Castle Hill High School. Picture by Damian Shaw

Teachers called for risk assessments for those who had been working at Castle Hill High for 15 years, with an independent assessor telling staff they “don’t know where (the asbestos) came from, or how long it has been there”.

“We can provide a risk assessment, but we cannot say exactly,” the assessor told concerned teachers. “We are unable to say exactly what the risk is.

“All we can do is provide air monitoring and advice —. our previous risk assessment was that the risk was low, but it is very hard to say, we don’t know how long people were in the storeroom and we don’t know how high the asbestos exposure was.”

The assessor was told students were lent textbooks from the storeroom, before confirming students spent time cleaning out the room in the lead up to renovations of classrooms:

“My kids spent ages in there helping out,” a teacher whose name was redacted was recorded as saying in the meeting.

Meanwhile, an email to a SafeWork NSW officer from a member of staff at the school claimed she and a “ number of staff have been subiect to bullying and harassment at Castle Hill High School, and believe that a number of these staff have been quietly moved on, applied for a transfer, or even forced to resign.”

One Nation MLC Mark Latham pictured at State Parliament in Sydney. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

One Nation MLC Mark Latham said it was “hard to imagine” a more serious failure on “an important work and safety issue”.

Mr Latham said staff had told him they had become “nervous wrecks” after whistleblowing to SafeWork NSW.

“They were intimidated and told they wouldn’t be engaged with after persisting to get answers,” he said.

Asbestos was reported in air quality testing in 2016. Picture John Grainger

A NSW Education Department spokesman told NewsLocal: “we take our responsibilities around asbestos management seriously”.

“Following all the relevant clearance certificates being provided by an independent hygienist, we’re confident there are no current asbestos issues at the school,” the spokesman said.

“The Department has also investigated the actions of the staff at Castle Hill High School in relation to their failure to act on reports between 2016 and 2020, and appropriate action has been taken.”