Chemical Inventory
Contact Chemical Safety
Call 303-492-6025
贰尘补颈濒听chemsafety@colorado.edu
All laboratories are required to maintain an up-to-date chemical inventory using the SciShield Database. This inventory is essential for safety, regulatory compliance, and emergency response. Labs are responsible for reviewing and updating their chemical inventory听at least annually, ensuring that newly acquired chemicals are added to the system and any old, unused, or expired chemicals are properly disposed of. Accurate inventory management helps reduce unnecessary stockpiling, minimizes risk, and supports a safe research environment. The pages below are designed to help lab members navigate ChemTracker as well as walk them through the annual audit process that the labs are required to complete every year.
Each chemical is stored within SciShield using the name, CAS number, a unique EH&S barcode and other attributes, including the storage location. This allows lab members to search for certain chemicals using parameters set within ChemTracker.听
Before the inventory and auditing process begins, it is important to create a spreadsheet of all the chemical storage locations in the labspace. The easiest way to do this is by creating a Google or Word document. This will be used to keep track of where all the chemicals are stored for safety, as well as increased lab efficiency. Keeping an inventory of all chemicals will save your lab money in the long run! A note to make is that not all the categories shown below may be present in the lab space. When you are creating your document, only input the categories that apply to your lab.
Naming Locations
When adding and auditing chemicals, it is important to label the locations of the storage area correctly. This helps with finding chemicals, keeping a good inventory, and to keep track of all the hazards on campus.听
General Rules for Labeling Locations:
- Shelves are numbered numerically from the top, going down. This includes refrigerators, cabinets, etc.
- Please type out the full location name with spelling and grammar. There will be spots to input the labels for the locations, these should be in the order: 鈥Bench, Shelf鈥
- Example: Flammable Cabinet #1, Shelf #1
- Labels should be clearly displayed on all locations in the lab space for general inspections and lab maintenance听
Types of Storage Locations
Please look at page 7 of the BioRAFT Manual for images of these locations.听
- Benchtop Shelf: 鈥淏enchtop Shelf #1, Shelf #1,鈥 etc
- Benchtop: 鈥淏enchtop #1,鈥 etc
- Corrosive Cabinet: 鈥淐orrosive Cabinet #1, Shelf #1,鈥 etc
- Dessicator: 鈥淒essicator #1,鈥 etc
- Flammable Cabinet: 鈥淔lammable Cabinet #1, Shelf #1,鈥 etc
- Freezer: 鈥淔reezer #1, Shelf #1,鈥 etc
- Fumehood: 鈥淔umehood EQ_______, Door #1, Shelf #1,鈥 etc
- Temp Fumehood: 鈥淭emp Fumehood #1, Door #1,鈥 etc
- Refrigerator: 鈥淩efrigerator #1, Shelf #1,鈥 etc
- Solid Cabinet: 鈥淪olid Cabinet #1, Shelf #1,鈥 etc
- Solid Shelf: 鈥淪olid Shelf #1, Shelf #1,鈥 etc
- Under Sink: 鈥淯nder Sink #1, Shelf #1,鈥 etc
- Under Benchtop: 鈥淯nder Benchtop #1, Shelf #1,鈥 etc
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 If the location is not listed:
Please label it at your discretion. Be sure the label is descriptive and fully encompasses the storage location area. If necessary, please describe the location in detail under the 鈥淣辞迟别蝉鈥 section in SciShield.
听
Chemicals are bought at the discretion of the labs. Each new chemical must be barcoded and added into the lab鈥檚 inventory when it is received. The chemicals are stored into the SciShield system with their CAS number, container ID (pink barcode) and specific location within the lab. Having all this information available helps ensure the inventory is accurate and reduces the risk of purchasing chemicals that are already on hand.
The bulk edit tool enables editing or deleting many chemical containers at once. It is important to note that search criteria are very specific and searching for a chemical using more information will not always prove successful. Any changes made using this feature will be applied to all the chemical containers selected. Any data entered for these fields will overwrite data currently existing for these chemical containers. Leaving a field blank means, the original values for that field are kept. The changes made using this tool are also permanent and cannot be undone.
The 鈥Reconciliation History鈥 tool is a multifaceted system that gives users the ability to audit, delete or download a chemical inventory. This tool works by tracking all the storage locations for each lab space and group. Viewers can find inventories that are finalized or in the process of being audited. This tool is useful in keeping track of the amount of each chemical on campus. By knowing the group name and exact location the chemicals are stored, lab members can easily find chemicals they need, and safety protocols can be confirmed.
Ready for your Lab Audit?
To make chemical inventory updates easier, barcode scanners are available in most lab buildings across campus. These scanners can be used to quickly check and update chemical entries within the inventory system. They are shared resources intended to support annual inventory reviews and ongoing chemical tracking.
Scanners are currently available in the following locations:
- Engineering Center 鈥 Main Office
- Cristol Chemistry 鈥 ChemStores Stockroom
- JSCBB 鈥 Mailing rack at Dock
- SEEL 鈥 Wire rack at Dock
If your building is not listed or you need assistance accessing a scanner, fill out the Scanner Request form and a member of EH&S will reach-out when a scanner is available.听
听
SciShield is a centralized, web-based platform that simplifies lab management as well as chemical, biological, and radiological safety compliance for 麻豆原创 researchers and their facilities. Visit SciShield to take lab safety training, keep track of your group and its members, perform Satellite Accumulation Area (SAA) weekly audits, as well as track your laboratory compliance inspections. This manual covers the basics of keeping your laboratory up to code and how to navigate the SciShield auditing process.听
- What if I cannot see the ChemTracker tab in SciShield?
- Your lab PI oversees granting these permissions to lab members. If you cannot see the ChemTracker tab, double check with your lab PI that you have these permissions. If you still cannot access this tab after talking with your PI, reach out to alannah.gregory@colorado.edu听and they can grant you access remotely.
- What if I cannot find my room number?
- Please reach out to the Chemical Safety Office at EH&S. The room number will have to be assigned to the lab space. This can take up to 24 hours to complete.
- When adding a new chemical that is not in the system, the 鈥淎dd Chemical鈥 box does not have any input fields. It is just a white box, what should I do?
- Clear the browser鈥檚 cache and then reload the window. This should fix the glitch in the system.
- When I am doing a reconciliation, I cannot see the correct chemical location. What should I do?
- The chemical location will have to be created by adding a new chemical to the inventory and filling in the chemical location under 鈥淏ench鈥 and 鈥淪helf.鈥 Please contact alannah.gregory@colorado.edu for assistance.