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Discussion on
Chemical Management

Activities/Obligations

If your organisation has any involvement with hazardous or dangerous chemicals you will want to have records of them and to ensure that the corresponding Material Safety Data Sheets are readily accessible and up to date.

Manufacturers and suppliers may have obligations to provide Material Safety Data Sheets but you still need to know when your current copies are expiring so that you can get new ones.

To safeguard people and the environment, and to achieve workplace best practice, you will want to know which hazardous chemicals are present in any particular work area, or involved with a particular work task.

You may need to conduct risk assessments and put controls in place to get risk to as low as reasonably practicable.

You may also need to conduct regular audits and inspections to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures have been developed and are being followed by personnel.

Using The Software

With OSHatWork you can:

  • record the details of each chemical (that you use and that your employees may encounter elsewhere) including:
    • the expiry date for each SDS (so you can generate a list of those expiring and in need of renewal - e.g. in the next month or quarter);
    • whether it is dangerous and/or hazardous (which allows you to generate a list, for viewing or reporting, of those which are dangerous and/or hazardous);
    • a risk level (so you can generate a list of chemicals in a particular risk band);
    • a risk owner (so each risk owner can see a list of the chemicals for which they need to control the risks);
    • the work tasks in which the chemical is encountered (which enables you to produce a list, for viewing or reporting, of all the chemicals involved with a particular work task);
    • the work areas in which the chemical is present (which enables you to produce a list, for viewing or reporting, of all the chemicals present in a particular work area);
  • generate a detailed report on a particular chemical;
  • easily search for chemicals and view Safety Data Sheets (which are sourced from the manufacturers or suppliers);
  • record, for each job, the work tasks performed and the work areas typically entered, which, in combination with the chemical records, will allow you to produce a job hazard analysis report that lists, for a particular job:
    • the work tasks performed;
    • the work areas typically entered;
    • the chemicals encountered by workers in the job; and
    • (with OSHatWork only) the risks associated with the work areas entered and work tasks performed;
  • (with OSHatWork only) associate chemicals with incidents, hazards and risks.

More

A complete list of all the OSHatWork Guides is available here.