Vorgehen beim Verdacht auf Gebäudeschadstoffbelastungen an rheinland-pfälzischen Schulen – Prozesshilfe für Schulleitungen und Schulträger

Procedure in the event of suspected exposure to building pollutants in schools in Rhineland-Palatinate: Process aid for school administrations and school boards Aim: The Institute for Teacher Health (IfL) has been dealing with suspected building pollutants in schools since its foundation in 2011. Dealing with pollutant problems is not an everyday situation for schools. After handling some complicated cases and regularly repeated enquiries, the IfL developed a process aid regarding the procedure in the event of suspected exposure to building pollutants in schools, which was communicated to all school administrations, school boards and supervisors in Rhineland-Palatinate (RLP) in November 2019. The process aid is intended to help decision-makers to adopt an efficient and solution-oriented approach. The aim is to support school decision-makers by providing them with professional expertise from the time when the suspicion of a pollutant arises. Group and Method: Out of 589 enquiries received by the IfL in relation to occupational safety during the period 2012/13 - 2017/18, 68 (11.5%) concerned building pollutants. Enquiries about building pollutants were the third most frequent reason for seeking advice during the period specified. These enquiries were subjected to an analysis of experience. The above-mentioned process aid was subsequently developed in cooperation with six other institutions, including Unfallkasse RLP and the Ministry of Education RLP. Results: The experience analysis showed that the IfL was often only involved in the school clarification process at a late stage. The following challenges arose repeatedly on the part of school administrations and school boards: technical complexity and lack of expertise, dealing with increasing emotionality and goal-oriented design of crisis communication. Conclusions: Negative factors can be mitigated by involving professional support at an earlier stage: less emotionality in dealing with the situation, avoidance of measurements that are not goal-oriented, cost reduction and better crisis communication. Acceptance on the part of the schools is to be expected; the increasing number of enquiries in the 2018/19 school year signals a need for support. Keywords: pollutants – crisis communication – schools – indoor air – polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)