If you are responsible for the management of asbestos at one or more sites as a property, estate, or portfolio director, it is of the utmost importance that you take this responsibility seriously – and take proactive steps towards minimising any risks at your premises.
After all, while asbestos has been banned for use in construction in the UK since 1999, the material is still believed to be present across as many as 1.5 million buildings up and down the country. Inevitably, many of those buildings will include schools, hospitals, offices, and other both public-sector and private-sector properties dating from before the year 2000.
Furthermore, the responsibility to manage asbestos at a non-domestic property is not merely a moral one. The overarching asbestos legislation for Great Britain – the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 (CAR 2012) – sets out a legal “duty to manage” asbestos.
As part of your fulfilment of this “duty” for a given premises, you will need to put in place an accurate and up-to-date asbestos register. However, when you have multiple sites to manage across what may be a broad geographical area, keeping on top of asbestos risks can be challenging.
This brings us onto the subject of asbestos management software. Cloud-based solutions can be particularly useful for boosting efficiency, compliance, and cost-effectiveness in how this now-outlawed substance is managed.
The role of an asbestos register in compliance and risk management
Before we go any further, we ought to clarify: what is an asbestos register? In summary, it is a legally mandatory record of all known or presumed asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) in a given non-domestic property, in accordance with CAR 2012.
The asbestos register for your own site should contain details on the location and condition of any ACMs that an asbestos survey finds to be present at your site. Furthermore, your register must include a risk assessment, which will assist you in identifying and prioritising any ACMs for which remedial action is needed.
More in-depth information and guidance on Managing and working with asbestos – including the “duty to manage” obligations under Regulation 4 of CAR 2012 – can be found in the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE)’s Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance publication, under the L143 series code.
How software transforms asbestos register management
As a property owner, facility manager, or dutyholder, you may already be accustomed to traditional, paper-based methods for asbestos management.
Unfortunately, however, such older approaches to the management of asbestos can bring a variety of issues and risks. These can include a risk of data fragmentation and the loss of records, as well as inefficient updates and limited accessibility.
Furthermore, the information contained in paper-based records can be easily out of date or incomplete. This, in turn, can heighten the risk of dutyholders falling out of compliance.
How, then, could a leading cloud-based platform for the management of asbestos – such as Vision Pro Software – make a difference? Here are some of those ways:
- Centralised, cloud-based recordkeeping
A software package that is available directly over the Internet, and that stores its functions and data “in the cloud”, can also be one that provides secure, real-time updates, accessible from any location where an Internet connection is available.
This aspect can instantly eliminate the data silos between teams, contractors, and auditors that can otherwise arise if traditional paper-based records are depended upon.
- Automated compliance tracking
Cloud-based asbestos management software can give you and your team real-time alerts for re-inspections, remediation deadlines, and regulatory changes, as part of your ongoing management of asbestos across your various buildings.
In the process, digital audit trails can be created to allow for easy reporting.
- Mobile integration for field inspections
When site visits are conducted, it will be extremely useful to have a software package that allows for instant data entry via a mobile device. This can include the likes of photos, notes, and risk ratings being uploaded directly to the system.
- Risk assessment and predictive analytics
One thing that a traditional paper-based system certainly doesn’t give you, is quick and convenient access to data-driven insights in relation to the ACMs at your site.
Such insights can be crucial in enabling you to rapidly identify the highest-risk ACMs on your premises.
This can support your subsequent decision-making about those materials, such as whether to leave them in place and maintain them over time, or instead arrange for their removal.
Step-by-step guide to using software for asbestos management
Below is the typical process for managing asbestos at a particular premises using the latest cloud-based technology, such as Vision Pro Software:
- Step 1: initial data collection and upload
Presuming you have existing asbestos records in relation to a site you are responsible for, the logical first step is to digitise them.
Importing your historical survey data into your chosen platform will then enable you to proceed with asbestos management, while drawing upon all the relevant and available information you already have.
- Step 2: conducting asbestos surveys with integrated tools
We touched on the relevance of mobile integration earlier. Sure enough, Vision Pro Software’s own accompanying mobile app can allow for the intuitive creation, editing, and viewing of data about asbestos on your site.
Whichever cloud-based platform is used, mobile apps aren’t only potentially useful for capturing new asbestos survey data – they can also enable the user to easily assign risk ratings and information about the condition of the given ACMs.
- Step 3: continuous monitoring and automated reporting
The leading cloud-based asbestos management platforms now available also allow the user to easily set automated reminders for inspections.
This functionality is supported by the provision of customisable compliance dashboards, which enable real-time oversight.
- Step 4: streamlining contractor and team collaboration
Working closely alongside other stakeholders – including relevant individuals from outside your organisation – will always be of great importance when it comes to the management of ACMs at your premises.
Sure enough, the asbestos management platform that you invest in should allow you to easily grant secure access to authorised personnel.
From that point onwards, it should be a straightforward process to assign remediation actions to such individuals, with tracked progress.
- Step 5: demonstrating compliance and audit readiness
The rapid generation of compliance reports for the benefit of regulators and stakeholders, is just one more way in which the right cloud-based software can make your life easier as a dutyholder in relation to the ACMs in your buildings.
Such an ability to almost effortlessly demonstrate compliance, also allows for seamless handover during the auditing process.
Why choose Vision Pro Software for asbestos register management?
Here are some of the reasons why Vision Pro Software makes sense for dutyholders and organisations seeking to practise the most responsible asbestos register management:
- It is tailored for public-sector organisations
Vision Pro Software has been specifically designed to meet the compliance requirements of a range of public-sector bodies, such as the NHS, universities, and academies.
This acclaimed cloud-based platform supports multi-site property portfolios, ensuring centralised control over multiple asbestos registers.
Moreover, its ability to adapt to sector-specific regulations helps reduce the risk of penalties for non-compliance.
- It is secure, scalable, and cost-effective
The use of enterprise-grade encryption and secure hosting, allows Vision Pro Software to protect sensitive asbestos data.
Vision Pro Software’s credentials as a highly futureproofed solution, meanwhile, are enhanced by its sheer scalability; this platform can easily expand as new sites or assets are added.
This cloud-based software eliminates the need for expensive on-premises servers and manual software updates. Such cost-efficiency is further maximised by this platform’s subscription-based pricing, which means organisations can pay only for what they genuinely require.
- It seamlessly integrates with other compliance modules
The broader Vision Pro Software can encompass modules for fire safety, legionella control, building condition assessments, and asset management. Our asbestos risk management module can connect with all these other modules to deliver a unified compliance approach.
When such elements are integrated together, Vision Pro Software can provide a single source of truth, preventing data duplication and discrepancies between compliance records.
This platform allows for automated workflows, too, with follow-up actions being triggered for any necessary maintenance, risk assessments, and/or remedial work at a given site.
- It presents mobile and real-time data access
When your organisation adopts Vision Pro Software, surveyors and inspectors at your premises will be able to update your asbestos records in real time via a mobile or tablet device.
The geotagging technology incorporated into our solution means that asbestos data can be associated with precise locations on site plans, thereby ensuring better tracking.
In addition, Vision Pro Software users are able to upload high-resolution images and documents to the system, for evidence-based reporting.
- It automates compliance tracking and audit readiness
The customisable dashboards that are a fundamental feature of Vision Pro Software provide real-time insights into asbestos risks, pending actions, and compliance status.
This platform is also able to generate fully formatted asbestos management reports instantly – truly “at the click of a button”.
The very best in audit trail transparency is provided, too. Every update and action taken is logged by the system, which ensures accountability for regulatory audits.
Conclusion: future-proofing asbestos management
For a broad range of organisations, recent years have seen an undeniable shift from manual to digital asbestos management methods – and for good reason.
As we have sought to make clear in this article, the most sophisticated cloud-based software greatly helps to ensure long-term compliance, efficiency, and safety at sites like yours.
Choose and adopt Vision Pro Software for your organisation’s management of ACMs at its premises, and you can be sure of benefitting from the optimal solution for streamlined asbestos compliance.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us now to learn more about how it works, and to request a demo.
