For decades, the asbestos industry has largely treated the final asbestos report as the end product.
A consultant conducts the inspection, samples suspected materials, records the findings, takes photographs and prepares an asbestos register. The completed report is converted to a PDF, emailed to the client and, in many cases, saved somewhere on a server.
Job done.
But is a static PDF really the best way to manage information about a hazard that may remain within a building for decades?
The real value of an asbestos survey isn’t the report itself. It’s the data behind it.
Asbestos information needs to live beyond the original survey
Consider how much valuable information can be generated during an asbestos inspection: building and location details, material descriptions, sample results, photographs, condition assessments, risk ratings, recommendations, removal information, clearance documentation and inspection history.
Collectively, this information provides an ongoing picture of the asbestos risk within a building.
Yet once all that information is locked inside a PDF, much of its potential usefulness can be lost.
A PDF is excellent for presenting a report at a particular point in time. It is far less effective as an ongoing asbestos management system.
Buildings change. Materials deteriorate. Asbestos is removed. Areas are renovated. New inspections are conducted. Photographs need updating. Recommendations need to be actioned. Clearance certificates need to be added.
The asbestos information therefore needs to change with the building.
The problem becomes greater across large property portfolios
For an organisation managing one small building, finding information within an asbestos report may be relatively straightforward.
Now consider an organisation responsible for 50, 200 or even 1,000 properties.
There may be thousands of individual asbestos records spread across hundreds of reports produced over many years, sometimes by different consultants.
Someone wants to know which properties contain a particular type of asbestos-containing material. Another person needs to identify high-risk items requiring attention. A contractor needs information about asbestos in the particular area where they are about to work.
If the information exists primarily within individual PDF reports, answering seemingly simple questions can become unnecessarily difficult.
The organisation has the information — but it doesn’t necessarily have usable data.
From document management to data management
This is where the asbestos industry has an opportunity to rethink the traditional approach.
Instead of viewing the asbestos report as the primary asset, organisations can view the underlying asbestos database as the asset.
The report then becomes one output generated from that data.
That distinction is important.
Structured asbestos data can potentially be searched, filtered, updated and analysed. Individual records can be linked to photographs and supporting documentation. Changes can be recorded over time, creating a history of how asbestos-containing materials have been managed.
Most importantly, information can be made available to the people who actually need it.
The objective should not simply be to store asbestos information.
It should be to make that information useful.
Better information can lead to better decisions
Digitising asbestos information also creates opportunities that aren’t easily achieved when information is trapped inside separate documents.
A property manager could identify outstanding asbestos actions across an entire portfolio. A consultant could review previous inspection information before arriving on site. Management could examine trends and priorities across hundreds of locations.
Contractors and maintenance personnel can potentially be provided with faster access to relevant information before beginning work.
And when an asbestos material is removed, repaired, encapsulated or reassessed, the underlying record can be updated rather than allowing outdated information to continue circulating in old copies of reports.
This turns the asbestos register from a historical document into a working management resource.
The asbestos report isn’t disappearing
None of this means the traditional asbestos report no longer has an important role.
Formal reports, asbestos registers, photographs, laboratory results, clearance certificates and other documentation remain critical components of asbestos management.
The difference is in how we think about them.
Instead of collecting information simply to produce a report, the industry can collect structured information that can then be used to produce reports and support ongoing asbestos management.
That is a fundamentally different approach.
Turning asbestos information into a working asset
This thinking is central to Lupin AuditPRO.
AuditPRO has been developed to help asbestos professionals capture information in a structured digital environment and use that information throughout the asbestos management process.
Site information, asbestos records, photographs and associated documentation can become part of an ongoing information resource rather than disappearing into disconnected files once the final report has been issued.
For asbestos consulting businesses, this can also mean less duplication between site inspection and report preparation, more consistent information and a more efficient workflow from the field through to final reporting.
The technology exists to move asbestos management beyond static documents.
Perhaps the question the industry should now be asking isn’t:
“Where is our latest asbestos report?”
It is:
“What could we do if all our asbestos information was immediately accessible, structured and usable?”
Discover a different approach to asbestos management
Lupin AuditPRO is designed for asbestos professionals who want to improve the way they capture, manage and report asbestos information.
Discover how AuditPRO can help turn asbestos data into a valuable, working business asset.
Contact Lupin Systems to arrange an AuditPRO demonstration.