Hazardous Substances Inventory Management
Digitising hazardous substances tracking and compliance for regional government.
The Challenge
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council was managing hazardous substances records on paper. This made it difficult to monitor inventory levels across sites, complicated routine compliance checks, and slowed emergency response when inspectors needed quick access to critical information.
Our Approach
We worked closely with the Council to understand their specific operational and compliance needs. The discovery phase included audience analysis and stakeholder interviews to map out how different teams — from field inspectors to compliance officers — would interact with the system.
Our design prioritised clarity and speed. The interface needed to minimise data entry errors, work reliably across devices in the field, and surface critical information quickly during emergencies.
The Solution
Built on .NET and Microsoft Azure, the application provides real-time tracking of hazardous substance levels across all council-monitored sites. Compliance tools automate record-keeping updates and generate alerts when regulatory thresholds are approached.
During emergencies, inspectors can pull up site-specific substance inventories instantly — information that previously required digging through paper files.
Impact
The transition from paper to digital records has significantly improved operational efficiency. Compliance is now continuous rather than periodic, emergency response is faster and better informed, and the Council has a complete, searchable audit trail for every monitored site.