WOLLONGONG ADVERTISER
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Unflued gas heaters remain in Illawarra schools despite the health risk they pose and the Coalition’s commitment while in opposition to get rid of them throughout NSW.
In opposition, former premier Barry O’Farrell, and Education Minister Adrian Piccoli, blasted the previous government’s failure to replace ‘‘dangerous’’ and ‘‘poisonous’’ unflued gas heaters in schools.
‘‘The replacement of these heaters should have begun years ago, and ongoing confusion and delay simply causes further angst to parents and teachers,’’ Mr O’Farrell said in July 2010.
Shadow minister for education, Keira MP Ryan Park, recently asked in Parliament when the new flued heaters would be rolled out in schools and is still waiting for an answer.
He said the government had not yet allocated the money to replace all unflued gas heaters in schools with flued heaters.
‘‘This is a costly exercise but this should be a priority...unflued gas heaters need to be replaced, it’s certainly a priority in areas that use them all the time,’’ Mr Park said.
He criticised the government for large cuts to the education budget, including capital works.
Asthma Foundation NSW is warning residents of the health risks of unflued gas heaters, releasing a survey of 790 NSW residents which showed that almost 70per cent did not realise that their choice of heater could affect their health.
Foundation chief executive Michele Goldman said there were about 1million gas heaters in Australia and 90per cent of these were unflued, with no chimney or vent pipe to divert toxic gases such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde.
‘‘These gases remain in the
home and are breathed in,’’ Ms Goldman said.
NSW is the only state to use unflued gas heaters in schools and a 2010 Woolcock Institute study of the heaters in NSW public schools found exposure to them increased respiratory symptoms, particularly those with asthma and allergies.
‘‘It is important to seek alternative sources of heating that do not have adverse effects on health,’’ the report said.
NSW Teachers Federation regional organiser Nicole Calnan said the government should invest more to replace the heaters.
‘‘To be able to run them safely, they have to have a door or window open which kind of defeats the purpose,’’ she said.
A Department of Education and Communities spokesman said unflued gas heaters in NSW public schools, including Wollongong, were being replaced with flued heaters when the majority of heaters in a school reach the end of their serviceable life.
He couldn’t say how many unflued gas heaters were in Wollongong schools because the department did not collect that information.
An independent Environmental Health Risk Assessment of School Heating Options in 2011 found that unflued gas heaters did not need to be replaced, but the government had committed to a replacement program.
‘‘All new public schools and new school buildings are being fitted with flued gas heaters,’’ the spokesman said. ‘‘Schools employ appropriate ventilation in rooms where heaters are in operation. All unflued gas heaters are also inspected annually and regularly maintained.’’