Environmental & Risk Management / Clean Building / Environmental Hazard Manager

Using Communication Logs with your Hazmat Assessment Items and Projects

When managing your hazmat projects, you might need to communicate with abatement agencies, labs, inspectors, government agencies, internal personnel, and other contractors. Additionally, you may have several notes or documents that you need to track.Use communication logs to add further detail to your hazmat projects. For example, you can use communication logs to attach contracts, record that contracts have been signed and mailed, record project status notes, and record that you have applied for a demolition permit.

Communication logs can be associated with specific hazmat assessment items, as well as to the hazmat project as a whole.

If you want to track communication about a particular assessment item, use the Manage Hazard Assessment Items task.
If you want to assign a communication log item to the project as a whole, use the Manage Project Activity Items task.

Note: You are not able to edit a communication log after it is saved, so be sure to enter all necessary data when creating the log. If you do make an error, you can always create a follow-up communication log to clarify the error.

There are a few ways to create communication logs. Once you access the form for entering Communication Log information, the process will be the same.

To create a communication log :

In the Process Navigator, select one of the following tasks to get started:

Purpose	Process Navigator Task	Steps
Add a communication log to an assessment item	Manage Hazard Assessment Items	Load the task. Choose one or more assessment items. Choose Add Activity/Communication Log Complete forms as referenced below.
Add a communication log to the project	Manage Project Activity Items	Load the task. Choose the Communications tab. Choose Add New. Complete forms as referenced below.
Add a communication log to an existing action item	Manage Project Activity Items	Load the task. Choose the Communications tab. Choose Add New In the Action Item field, enter the ID of the existing Action Item ID, or choose from the list of values.

Follow one of the above procedures.
When you access the Add Communication form, enter a unique ID for this communication log. The date and time for the communication log are filled in with the current date and time. Choose Save and Next.
Enter the following fields:

Communication Type	Choose from the existing list of values, such as Meeting Notes, Correspondence, Notices.
Action Item ID	If you want to associate this communication log with an existing action item, choose an action item from the list, or type in its value. If you are creating the communication item for an assessment item, the system automatically completes this field and does not display it in the view.
Contact Code	From the list of existing values, choose the party to which the communication pertains.
Priority	Indicate the importance of this communication.
Document	Use this document field to store scanned copies of any documents related to the communication or associated assessment item. For example, you may wish to scan the signed contract with an abatement management company and attach the file as a document.
Summary/Description	Use these fields to provide a summary and then a description of the communication. Since you may have many communication logs associated with an action item or assessment item, it is important to carefully complete these fields.

When you view communication log items for a project using the Manage Project Activity Items task, the system will present communication logs associated with a project and those associated with assessment items. To distinguish between those two types, use the Category filter field values of “Project Only” or “Hazard Item Only.”

You can view your communication log items with the Communications Log in the Operational Reports process.