Client Overview
The Department of Regional Infrastructure is a federal government department headquartered in Barton, Canberra, with satellite offices in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Darwin. The department employs approximately 1,200 staff and manages over 5,000 portable electrical items across its four locations, including desktop computers, monitors, printers, multifunction devices, kitchen appliances, server room equipment, and facilities maintenance tools.
The Challenge
As a Commonwealth entity, the department is required to comply with the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011, which mandate regular inspection and testing of portable electrical equipment. The department's compliance records were maintained in a paper-based system that had been in place for over a decade. Test results were recorded on carbon-copy forms, filed in lever-arch folders, and stored in a basement archive room at the Barton headquarters.
The department's WHS coordinator, Michael O'Brien, described the system as "unmanageable." Generating a compliance summary for an audit required manually reviewing hundreds of paper records across multiple folders. Locating the test history for a specific item could take hours. When equipment was relocated between offices, records were frequently lost. The department's internal audit team had flagged the paper system as a "high-risk control" in their last two annual reports, and the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) had indicated that digital compliance records would be expected in future audits.
Our Solution
We implemented a comprehensive digital transformation of the department's electrical compliance program:
Full Digital Migration: We began by digitising all existing paper records. Every historical test result was entered into our cloud-based asset management platform, creating a complete digital archive of the department's compliance history. This provided an immediate searchable database replacing the basement filing system.
5,000-Item Asset Register: Our team conducted a physical audit of all four department locations, registering every portable electrical item in the digital platform. Each item was assigned a unique QR code label, photographed, and categorised by location, department, equipment type, and risk level. The register is accessible via web browser from any department device.
QR Code Tracking: Every item now carries a durable QR code label. Staff can scan any item with their smartphone to view its compliance status, test history, and next due date. Facilities management staff use the QR system to track equipment moves between offices, ensuring records follow the equipment automatically.
Real-Time Audit Dashboards: We configured custom dashboards for the department's WHS team, internal audit team, and senior executive. The dashboards display real-time compliance rates by location, division, and equipment type. Drill-down functionality allows users to identify specific items that are overdue or approaching their test date. The dashboards are designed to meet ANAO reporting expectations.
Automated Alerts: The system sends automated email alerts to divisional WHS contacts when items in their area are approaching their test due date. Escalation alerts are sent to the central WHS team if items remain untested after the due date.
Results
The digital transformation was completed in three phases over a six-month period from March to August 2024. All 5,000+ items across Barton, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Darwin are now tracked in the centralised digital platform with 100 percent asset visibility.
Compliance rates have improved from an estimated 75 percent (based on the partial paper records available) to a verified 97.8 percent. The remaining 2.2 percent represents items temporarily out of service for repair or newly purchased equipment awaiting its first test cycle.
The time required to prepare compliance reports for auditors has been reduced from an estimated 40 hours of manual work to approximately 15 minutes using the automated dashboards. During the department's most recent internal audit, the compliance system received no findings for the first time in five years. The internal audit team described the digital system as "exemplary" and recommended it as a model for other WHS compliance areas.
Key Metrics
- 5,000+ items registered in digital asset management platform
- 4 locations (Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne, Darwin) centrally managed
- 97.8% compliance rate up from estimated 75%
- 40 hours to 15 minutes reduction in audit report preparation time
- Zero audit findings on most recent internal audit
- Paper-to-digital transition eliminating basement filing system
Client Quote
"We went from a basement full of lever-arch folders to a dashboard I can pull up on my phone in 15 seconds. The ANAO expectations around digital records were a real driver for us, and this system exceeds what they asked for. Our internal audit team had flagged our paper system as high-risk for two years running. This year, for the first time, we got zero findings. The QR tracking alone has saved us countless hours �" when someone moves a monitor from Barton to Melbourne, the compliance record follows it automatically."
�" Michael O'Brien, WHS Coordinator, Department of Regional Infrastructure, Barton ACT