Online Advisors cover more than a dozen complex areas of OSHA regulations. More than 40,000 advisors are downloaded from OSHA Web sites per year. This innovation has saved businesses more than $100 million per year in consultants and attorney fees.

US Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration

There are several thousands of people currently maintaining properties potentially contaminated with asbestos. With the notification, labeling, record keeping, surveillance and controls required of the real estate industry—this complex and ever evolving information requires the effective use of technology. The Asbestos Advisor is an interactive compliance assistance expert system. It provides expert recommendations to building owners, managers and lessees, as well as contractors of building renovation, maintenance, and housekeeping services.

The system interviews users about buildings and work sites, and the kinds of tasks workers perform there. Based on user input, the system results produce guidance and reports on how asbestos standards may apply to buildings, and may also be focused on a particular project. The system provides pop-up definitions through "hypertext". Other features allow the user to:

• Print a customized glossary
• View and print Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) organized by topic
• View sections of regulatory text by topic, in an easy to read format

OSHA made the Asbestos Advisor as useful and as simple to use as possible. Representatives of major trade and labor associations, and the public, were invited to comment on earlier drafts. After about 1200 copies of the Public Test Version were downloaded from the Web site and the DOL LaborNews BBS, changes were made that people thought would be helpful.

"Industry and military users have reported that the Asbestos Advisor has been used by up to 80,000 businesses in the first year it was put on the Internet. In March 1996, the Asbestos Advisor was honored with the NPR Hammer Award, presented by former Vice President Al Gore".
From BEST IT PRACTICES IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT - A Joint Project of the Chief Information Officers Council and the Industry Advisory Council

The program was developed in conjunction with EXSYS expert systems development software, and the distribution version of the program uses the EXSYS Runtime program core. Use of EXSYS products is governed by a license granted by EXSYS to the U.S. Department of Labor. The OSHA Asbestos Advisor and many other expert systems, in online interactive and download versions, are available at: http://www.dol.gov/elaws/all.htm