Assure 360

The data collected by Assure360 gives us unique insight into the issues our peers in the safety industry tackle during site audits and tech reviews.

Assure360 is the only community audit and compliance tool available for the asbestos removal and construction industry. With over a hundred safety professionals using the system – so far they’ve completed 4,355 audits – we are developing real insight into the challenges and issues our clients and peers face and overcome. As a result, Assure360 has the power to genuinely improve the construction industry.

It’s been a great year so far. More than 10% of all licensed asbestos removal companies now benefit from our system. The 4,000th audit was completed by one of our Gold subscribers, and in July we hit a record of 159 audits and competence assessments in a single month.

What kind of data?

If you’re familiar with these posts, and the Assure360 system in general, you’ll know that the data not only incorporates site audits, but records tech reviews during the planning stage. This allows managers to learn from common issues picked up by their peers – before the project goes live.

We regularly share the community’s findings with our army of independent auditors through our customer newsletter (scroll down to sign up). Let me walk you through highlights from the most recent findings, covering audits and site reviews in June and July.

The 10 most common non-conformance issues

If we look at the overall top 10 we see that it is very much method statement focused. However, if we look a little deeper I think there are some interesting trends developing, notably around risk assessments – both during the planning and on-site phases.

Assure360 Question count for June/July 18

The top 10 looks like this:

  1. Drawings (accurate)
  2. Method statement (appropriate)
  3. Risk Assessments (site specific)
  4. COSHH Assessments
  5. Spill Kits
  6. Risk Assessments (detailed in method proper)
  7. Housekeeping
  8. Notified (present and accurate)
  9. RA (Live Services)
  10. RPE Daily

I’ve long championed thorough risk assessment, and the latest results see a comparative surge of issues around them. Appearing mid-table, Risk Assessments (detailed in method proper) relates to assessments at the project planning stage. Risk Assessments are all-too-often an afterthought in the asbestos industry, where in fact they should be the first thing written. Logically if you have identified, say, that there’s a noise and vibration issue involved in a asbestos removal project, the method should detail precisely how all three of these challenges are to be overcome.

A familiar example might be where asbestos insulation removal is detailed, with the detail for the actual cutting restricted to “…cut out with reciprocating saw to 1m lengths.” Methods should state the trigger time, task rotation, and when to wear hearing protection.

Risk Assessment (live services) continues to get the attention it deserves. Interestingly this relates to the site level, i.e. where site teams have not followed procedure, rather than where issues haven’t been considered in the plan.

Gold and Platinum

Happily, there’s a new Assure360 development that will help supervisors. All existing Gold subscribers now get access to our new Paperless solution free of charge.

Quite simply the holy grail of the asbestos removal industry, Assure360 Paperless is a secure and powerful system for recording checks. It’s designed to save time for the supervisor, allowing more time in which to actually supervise. Why not contact us to arrange a demo?

Root and branch

Assure360 is not a dumb ‘smart form’ or isolated tablet application – it’s linked to a powerful cloud database. Its sophisticated system of automatic reminders and dashboards, ensures the right people deal with the issues at the right time. Meanwhile, the system encourages you to always examine the data to ask ‘what could we do to prevent this happening again?’. Everything is dealt with – root and branch, and this month’s results suggest that the approach is working.

How could Assure360 help you?

How does this data compare with your own audits? Do you have a tool that can help you monitor and tackle these issues, saving you time and money and keeping everyone on the project up to speed?

Let us know what kind of data you’d be interested in seeing, and if you’d like a demo, please get in touch.

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"It's immediately apparent if there are any trends I need to look at, if there's any particular processes that have gone awry, or if there are individuals we need to coach."
Phil Neville, Operations Director, Asbestech,