Information Sheet 58: Occupational Health and Safety responsibilities for school boilers

Heat is provided to a large number of New Zealand schools through the use of solid fuel with an associated hot water or steam boiler system.   

A growing number of schools are using wood fuel systems having converted an existing coal boiler or installed a new state of the art wood fuel boiler. 

This note focusses on issues relating to the safe operation of boiler plant from an occupational health and safety perspective.  While the note focusses largely on wood fuel systems, regardless of your solid fuel type, there are a number of fundamental safety issues that are mirrored across all solid fuel types.  This note therefore can be universally applied.