What the latest FAMANZ newsletter tells us about asbestos management in the UK

The latest FAMANZ newsletter may be written for asbestos professionals in Australia and New Zealand, but many of the themes will feel very familiar to UK asbestos consultancies, laboratories, contractors and duty holders using asbestos software Alpha Tracker.

Visit famanz.org for more info

Across the newsletter, there is a clear focus on competency, practical guidance, consistent survey standards, public-sector asbestos assurance, training, laboratory reporting and the challenge of moving from simply holding asbestos information to proving that asbestos is being properly managed.

There is also a useful international comparison for UK readers. FAMANZ highlights the UK HSE’s decision not to lower Great Britain’s asbestos control limit, while noting that the European Union is moving towards a lower occupational exposure limit. The HSE’s position, as reported by FAMANZ, is that competency, training, supervision, site controls and enforcement may have more impact than changing the numerical limit alone.

That is an important point for Alpha Tracker customers in the UK. Asbestos compliance is not just about numbers in a report or documents sitting in a folder. It is about having reliable systems, clear processes, competent people, current registers, well-managed actions and evidence that risks are being controlled in practice.

Alpha Tracker is designed to support exactly that kind of joined-up asbestos management, from surveying and sampling through to lab results, registers, reinspection, recommendations, remedial actions, client reporting and audit trails.

The FAMANZ update is a useful reminder that asbestos remains a live issue internationally. The details vary by country, but the direction of travel is clear: better competency, better evidence, better systems and better protection for people.

Read the FAMANZ June 2026 newsletter

FAMANZ June update: competency, consistency and better asbestos management across Australia and New Zealand

The latest FAMANZ newsletter is well worth a read for asbestos professionals across Australia and New Zealand. It highlights just how active the sector is right now, with important work continuing around competency, training, asbestos survey standards, public-sector assurance, laboratory reporting, and the practical implementation of new and updated guidance.

visit famanz.org for more info

From an asbestos software Alpha Tracker perspective, the themes are very familiar. Asbestos management is becoming more demanding, not less. Clients, regulators and building owners increasingly expect clearer evidence, better records, stronger governance and more consistent processes.

FAMANZ reports continuing progress on its Competency Framework for Asbestos Professionals, the Safe Work Australia Asbestos Framework Review, the updated WorkSafe New Zealand Good Practice Guidelines, and preparations for the 2027 ASBESTOS Conference in Christchurch (Judy and some of the team from the UK will be there, of course!). There is also continued focus on asbestos in consumer products, including children’s play sand, and on the need for better supply-chain assurance and public protection.

For Alpha Tracker customers, this all reinforces the importance of having robust asbestos systems in place. Whether you are managing surveys, samples, registers, removals, reinspection programmes, client portals or reporting, good software helps turn professional practice into repeatable, auditable processes.

We will continue to follow these developments closely and support our Australian and New Zealand customers as expectations around asbestos management, competency and reporting continue to evolve.

Read the FAMANZ June 2026 newsletter

Welcome to Alpha Tracker, A55 Asbestos

We’re delighted to welcome A55 Asbestos Ltd to the Alpha Tracker community.

Today, we had the pleasure of training the A55 Asbestos team on how to use asbestos software Alpha Tracker in their fantastic asbestos laboratory. It was great to spend time with the team, see their setup, and help them get started with the system.

A55 join the Alpha Tracker asbestos software family

A55 Asbestos provides asbestos management solutions, including asbestos surveys, training and consultancy, with a clear focus on reducing risk and helping clients understand their responsibilities. Their work supports homeowners, duty holders and organisations that need clear, practical asbestos advice and support.

Alpha Tracker will help A55 Asbestos manage their asbestos work more efficiently, from job tracking and reporting through to day-to-day lab and project workflows. We’re looking forward to supporting the team as they begin using the system in live work.

A very warm welcome to everyone at A55 Asbestos. We’re excited to have you on board and look forward to working with you.

Find out more about A55 Asbestos here: https://www.a55asbestos.co.uk/

Support Desk Performance: June 2026

June was another strong month for the our Support Desk, with the team solving 953 tickets and maintaining a high level of responsiveness across the board.

Overall, 94.44% of tickets were solved in time, our best result so far this year. High-priority tickets also performed very well, with 98.33% solved in time.

Good result from Zac and the team

That means that, despite June being one of the busiest months of 2026 so far, the team continued to deliver a reliable and responsive service for asbestos software Alpha Tracker, Greenfield, ecoScribe and other Start Software system users.

June at a glance

Support Desk Performance: January to June 2026

Month	Tickets solved	In time, all tickets	In time, high priority
June 2026	953	94.44%	98.33%
May 2026	803	94.27%	96.07%
April 2026	869	93.21%	97.92%
March 2026	996	92.67%	97.93%
February 2026	926	92.33%	98.81%
January 2026	904	93.58%	98.86%

June saw a noticeable increase in ticket volumes compared with May, rising from 803 tickets solved in May to 953 in June. Even with this increase, our in-time performance improved slightly, which is a real credit to the Support Desk team.

Looking beyond the numbers

Support performance is not only about how quickly we respond. It is also about understanding why issues happen in the first place.

During July, we are focusing heavily on root cause analysis. This means looking more closely at repeat problems, recurring support themes, and areas of the software where customers are seeing the same kinds of issues more than once.

The aim is simple: to reduce avoidable tickets and give our customers a smoother, more reliable software experience.

Where we identify repeat issues, we will be working with the wider development team to improve processes, update guidance, enhance training material, and, where needed, make changes to the software itself.

Release 42 is now live

We have also recently completed and deployed Release 42 of Alpha Tracker.

This release includes a wide range of improvements and should help reduce ticket volumes over time, particularly in areas linked to performance. We know that software speed and responsiveness have a direct impact on day-to-day user experience, so this has been an important focus for the team.

As more customers move onto Release 42, we expect to see fewer performance-related support requests and a better overall experience for users.

Thank you

As always, thank you to our customers for continuing to work with us, report issues clearly, and provide feedback. Your input helps us improve Alpha Tracker and our other systems month by month.

And thank you to the Support Desk team for another excellent month, especially during a busy period.

We are pleased with June’s results, but we are not standing still. July is about digging deeper, fixing repeat problems, and continuing to improve the experience for everyone.