WESTERNAUSTRALIANGOVERNMENT
Development and validation of an asbestos identificationapp
LinktotheNationalStrategicPlan:
Strategy:Identification
Deliverable:
Pilot residential ACMidentificationtoolsandstrategieswithlocalgovernmentpartners
Outcome:
Improvedpracticeintheresidentialsectortoidentifyandminimisetheriskofexposure,inparticularforDIYhomerenovators
Location:
Western Australia,statewide
Theissue
Thereisgenerallyalackofknowledgeandawarenessinthecommunityaboutasbestosidentificationanditssafemanagementinresidentialsettings.TheamountandconditionofinsituACMsremaininginWesternAustralianhousingstockisnotknown.Therefore,theWesternAustraliaDepartmentofHealthaimedtodevelopandvalidateamobileapplication(‘app’)thatcanbeusedbyhouseholders,tradespeopleandenvironmentalhealthofficerstoscreenthehomeforthepresenceofinsituasbestos.
Actiontaken
Amobileapp,called‘ACMCheck’,wasdevelopedtoidentifyandassesstheconditionofinsituACMslocatedinresidentialsettings.TheappwasfirstbuiltontheiOSplatformandtestedonasampleof40pre-1990homeslocatedthroughoutthePerthmetropolitanarea.TheresultsobtainedfromACMCheckwerecomparedtoonsiteinspectionsconductedateachofthehomesbyanenvironmentalconsultant.TheresultsoftheinspectionwereusedtovalidatetheresultsobtainedbyACMCheck.
Feedbackregardingtheappwascollectedfromeachofthe40participantsthroughanonlinequestionnaire.
Results
The app identifies potential ACMs throughaquestionnairethataskstheusersimplequestionsabouttheageofthehouse,renovationhistoryandkeyfeaturesofthebuildingmaterialsused.Basedontheanswers,theappdeterminesifamaterialisunlikely,possibleorlikelytocontainasbestos.UsersratethecurrentconditionandlikelihoodofdisturbingmaterialsthataredeterminedtobepossibleorlikelyACMviatheapp.
Overall,therewasstrongagreementbetweentheappandenvironmentalconsultantwhencategorisingahouseashavinginsituasbestospresentonthe
property.Thestrengthofagreementbetweentheappandenvironmentalconsultantrangedfromlowtohighwhencategorisingspecificmaterialsasunlikely,possibleorlikelyACM.Basedonthefeedback,participantswereeither‘verysatisfied’or‘satisfied’withtheease-of-use,lookandfeel,andtimeittooktocompletetheapp.
Outcomes
TheiOSversionofACMCheckappwasupdatedbasedonparticipantfeedbackfromthevalidationstudybeforebeingreplicatedonAndroid.BothversionswerereleasedtotheAustralianpublicinJune2017andarenowavailableforfreefromtheAppStoreandGooglePlay.
Nextsteps
DatafromcompletedACMCheckquestionnairesiscurrentlybeingcollectedfromconsentingusers.ThedatawillbeanalysedandusedbyCurtinUniversityresearcherstoestimatetheamountandconditionofACMsinWesternAustralianhousing.
MoreInformation
Furtherinformationcanbefoundat
The ACM Check app can be downloaded fromthefollowing:
App Store
Google Play
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