Best Practices
Chemicalfor
Management
Do you really know which chemicals are present at your site?
BY BILL ADAMS
An effective chemical management program is one of the corner- stones of environmental
health and safety (EHS). Through
chemical management, industrial
hygienists prevent and control potential health and safety risks resulting from the improper use,
handling and disposal of hazardous
chemicals. But how do you know
whether your chemical management program is effective?
To answer this question, you first
need to ask, “Do I really know which
chemicals are on my site?” In my experience, most industrial hygienists cannot
answer yes to this question.
The basis of chemical management is
a facility’s chemical inventory list. Typically, for each item on the inventory,
Safety Data Sheets (SDS) or Material
Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) are acquired
from manufacturers or importers. The
SDS and MSDS are essential for developing procedures for the safe use and handling of chemicals, educating the
personnel who work with them, and selecting appropriate personal protective
equipment (PPE).
An inaccurate or incomplete chemical
inventory has consequences for many
areas of EHS programs. Here are just a
few:
• job procedures
• job safety analysis (job hazard analysis)
• PPE assessments
• qualitative and quantitative exposure
assessments
• medical surveillance
• hazard communication
• emergency procedures
• confined space entry
• process safety management
• hazardous waste disposal
• chemical hygiene programs
This article explores the types of
chemicals that may be present at your
facility and, more importantly, how these
chemicals enter your site. Whether you
work in a production, construction, re-
search, education, government, or serv-
ice facility, this article will help you
evaluate and improve your chemical
management program.
Procurement
Chemicals are associated with virtually
every department or process in a facility.
The types of chemicals used and the as-
sociated department(s) may include:
• processing materials
• raw materials
• intermediates
• byproducts
• off-spec products
• waste (hazardous, nonhazardous and
recyclable)
