Sidebar: Green Schools: Learning as We Go
Schools and Regulations
Because children are so susceptible to health hazards and because they spend so much time in schools, it would make sense that among nonresidential buildings, schools would be the most carefully regulated in terms of potential health and safety hazards. Yet that is not the case. According to the Children’s Environmental Health Network, other than for lead, asbestos, and radon, the federal government does not protect children to the extent that it protects most U.S. workers. While Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) regulations cover school employees in some states, these agencies have no jurisdiction for investigating the health impact on students. And teachers are covered by OSHA in only 26 of our 50 states! Not even the siting of schools is carefully regulated. Lois Gibbs, executive director of the Center for Health Environment and Justice (CHEJ) told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee at an October 1 hearing (see related article) that “while laws compel children to attend school, there are, astoundingly, no guidelines or laws in place that compel school districts to locate school buildings on property that will protect the school population from environmental health and safety risks.” She said that only California has regulations and an assessment process in place for school siting. In many areas schools are expressly exempt from most regulations governing the siting of buildings.
