Chemical Management
Chemicals used in laboratories are subject to several legal requirements and guidelines, such as:
- USECHH 2000
- CLASS 2013
This is because improperly managed chemicals can pose a risk to human health and the environment.
- Chemical hazard characteristics include;
- Reactive
- Toxic
- Corrosives
- Flammables
Incompatible chemicals are two or more substances stored together that can react, producing an exothermic reaction that can be violent and explosive or releasing toxic substances, usually in gas form.
Chemical waste is classified as scheduled waste when it exhibits one or more of these characteristics:
- Reactive
- Toxic
- Infectious
- Ignitability
- Corrosive
Good chemical and waste management practices are essential to maintaining a safe, healthy, and compliant laboratory environment. Laboratory users must understand the hazards associated with chemicals and waste, follow appropriate control measures, and ensure that chemicals and waste are handled, stored, labelled, and disposed of in accordance with University requirements and applicable regulations. Key requirements include:
- Know your chemical/waste -Always refer to SDS for proper labelling and segregation.
- All waste generated should be labelled and segregated.
- Do not store waste for more than 6 months in the laboratory.
- Waste containers that are not labelled correctly will not be accepted for disposal.
- Communicate hazard information to employees through labels and SDS
- Housekeeping of the laboratory.
- Wear PPE when in the laboratory.
Procurement of chemical stocks shall be in accordance with applicable legal requirements, as well as according to the school's individual standard operating procedure for chemical purchasing.
Schools should verify whether the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for the chemical is already in the university's ChemWatch SDS database.
If the SDS is not already held, the Chemical Manifest has to be filled out and sent to ChemWatch so that the SDS can be sourced and added to the database.
During delivery of chemicals, the receiving personnel shall ensure that: -
- The label is intact on the chemical bottle, and
- A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) is supplied along with the chemical by the supplier.
Any chemical being delivered without labels or SDS should not be accepted.
Before the procurement of any new chemical, a risk assessment should be done to evaluate whether safety measures are already in place before the commencement of work/projects and the availability of adequate storage for the quantity purchased.
Safety measures include the following:-
- Emergency procedures and facilities.
- Appropriate storage and handling conditions (e.g. local exhaust ventilation, fume hood cabinet)
- Waste disposal procedure.
- All chemicals must be stored in a designated storage area under the control of an Authorised Officer, who is a staff member at the School/Unit assigned to supervise the receipt, handling, use and disposal of chemicals.
- The storage area must be equipped with approved chemical cabinets to cater for hazardous chemicals such as
- flammable,
- corrosive and
- oxidizing.
- The storage area must be adequately ventilated and properly marked with appropriate signage.
- Chemical inventory must be maintained:-
- At the storage area.
- At the laboratory where the chemical is used.
- At the School laboratory management offices.
- A Chemical Risk Assessment should be done, and the Laboratory Safety Manual should be referred to before commencing any work that uses chemicals.
- Safe work practices and recommended control measures, as determined by the risk assessment, must be followed when handling chemicals.
- Safety induction and training should be conducted for all personnel who handle chemicals.
- Safety Data Sheets (SDS) shall be consulted for safe handling of chemicals before usage. The elements shall include:-
- Good laboratory Practices;
- Use and management of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE);
- Use of Engineering Controls, such as fume hoods.
- Chemical segregation is crucial to avoid hazardous consequences when two incompatible chemicals come into contact.
- Users can refer to the Dangerous Goods Segregation Chart, EPA-Chemical-Waste-Compatibility-Chart or the chemical's Safety Data Sheet for appropriate storage practices.
What is Chemwatch?
ChemWatch is an online chemical management system that allows users to:
- Access Safety Data Sheets (SDS);
- Maintain chemical manifests or chemical inventory; and
- Create Chemical Risk Assessment reports.
Chemwatch Access
If you would like to search and view SDS only, you can use this generic link to access the website.
To use Chemwatch to keep track of the chemicals stored in the workplace, each staff member and postgraduate student is provided individual access to ChemWatch.
Supporting Information.
For further information and help accessing and using the system, please refer to the ChemWatch User Guide.