If you are the owner of a commercial building built before 2004 and there is evidence that asbestos is present in the building you are required by law to establish and maintain an Asbestos Register. This legal requirement also applies to property and facilities managers as well as some owner corporations.

The register must detail the location of asbestos containing material, its condition, friability, risk assessment, any actions that need to be taken and photographs.

 It is vitally important for the asbestos register to be available on site for employees and contractors and must be consulted before any refurbishment or repairs are undertaken.

Maintaining the asbestos register is an ongoing obligation. Regulations require an asbestos survey to be carried out every five years. As asbestos material deteriorates over time it is recommended that inspections of asbestos deposits are conducted more regularly.

So what is the most effective way to maintain an Asbestos Register?

While some organisations are still using paper forms, inaccuracies, the time taken to keep the register updated and compliant and the difficulties of retrieving information maked this method very inefficient.

Many Auditors are now using computers. At its most basic form, would be an excel spreadsheet on a laptop. Then you have Form Builder software where you develop template forms to conduct audits. While some of these products may speed up the data collection process, the Asbestos Register that they produce is often not compliant with statutory regulations.

Then you have auditing software that can be used for any form of commercial audit, including cleaning, construction, education, community services, mining and many more. While they have thousands and thousands of checklist templates they do not offer the productivity gains as specialised products. In addition, users have to set up their own forms and some processes.

Finally, you have specific Asbestos Auditing products that contain a compliant asbestos register that have been developed in conjunction with asbestos auditors. They provide a broad range of functionality that will increase the efficiency, accuracy and speed of audits. Most importantly, they give auditors and building owners the peace of mind that you are compliant with statutory regulations. When considering these products make sure they are a Web Application so there are no IT Infrastructure costs and have an integrated tablet version so that you can still record information where there is no internet and once you are back in range, will automatically update the system.

These products enable you to take photos where you can mark specific areas on the image, they enable users to set their own risk parameters, and send automatic alerts when action needs to be taken. In addition, they provide an extensive range of management reports.

Lupin Systems provides the very latest in Asbestos  Register Technology. If you are looking to improve the efficiency of your Asbestos Audits, give Kristy Titus a call on 0460 775 591.