Keep one reliable record for each piece of equipment

What this means for your practice

Give each asset a stable organisational identifier and a clear ownership record. Descriptive names can change without breaking the link to its history.

What to ask before you choose

Ask to see two devices of the same model. Staff should be able to identify the individual item. Rename or move one and check that its history follows it. Agree who reviews suspected duplicate entries before records are combined, particularly where past work could be attached to the wrong device.

Make the label useful at the point of work

Choose a reference that staff can read and find on the actual item. It should identify that particular piece of equipment, not simply the model. Two identical devices can have different maintenance histories or locations. Ask the equipment team how they already distinguish them and build the register around a method they can use consistently.

Try an everyday example: a colleague reports a problem over the phone while looking at the device. Can the receiving person find the correct record from the label without asking which 'blue machine' they mean? Include older items whose labels are damaged or missing, and agree who resolves uncertainty. When a duplicate is found, have an authorised person review the histories before combining records. Keep enough explanation to understand the correction later. Review the register against a small physical sample with the responsible team; a tidy spreadsheet alone does not establish that every entry matches the item staff are using.

How to check the result

Count assets with duplicate identities or missing ownership.