Australia's Science Forum

Hi people,
I have a question for you all re chemwatch, chemical registers, etc.
I am wondering if in your school you are responsible for updating registers and MSDS or if this responsibility of someone else? Does anyone else in your school have access to chemwatch, and if so, how much?
Up until this stage I was responsible for updating MSDS, registers, labels etc, and I am the only one who has access to chemwatch. I have had problems getting people to fill out register sheets every year and usually end up going a round the school and doing most of it..
As our school is coming up for review, our chemical policy, (which I didn’t know we had and was 5 years old) has coming up for review. The secretary of the safety committee obtained a policy from another school and had a talk to me about it and how things operate, and said she would update it based on the sample policy and what I told her.

OK.. I’ve just had a look at the new policy, and there are good bits and bad bits.
Good bits – a person from each department would be responsible for ensuring their department filled in the forms.
Bad bits it now reads that the WHS committee will appoint a member of the committee as chemical safety officer to supply audit forms , and set up chemical stores online and manage this by entering data. I’m not sure if this is an oversight, but it now reads that any member of the committee can now be responsible for accessing chemwatch, amending stores , and possibly every man and his dog have access, regardless of how little they know about chemicals . Also it reads that if I ever leave the WHS committee, I am automatically not entitled to bear this position. This is not what we discussed.
Thoughts?

The secretary is not here today.

I am only responsible for the Science chemicals. Everyone else has to do their own, but they do it manually and only the TAS people have access to chemwatch. They don't do their register there, and neither do I. I just use a spreadsheet, which has never been questioned. I use Chemwatch to get safety info, labelling etc. I wouldn't mind setting up my register in Chemwatch, but waiting to see what the DEC end up doing when Chemgold III ceases to be.

I set up our Register a few years ago, including doing the intitial stocktaking of every storage location, and put it all into Excell. Everyone has access to this document. A hard copy is kept in the Front Office, with mini SDS for each chemical, and each Faculty or Area (eg. Farm, maintenance, grounds, canteen, kitchen, dormitory, cleaning, sick bay) also has a copy of their spreadsheet page & SDS. The Chemwatch site is also available to all staff, via the computer network.

They are responsible for their own stocktaking each year, and I update the online document and then issue new printouts for their individual folders. Some choose to print out their own full SDS. Others I have to chase to get them to return their stocktake sheets.

For now I find the Excell document user friendly, with it set up to suit me eg. the column for SDS issue dates allows me to highlight those that are due to be replaced next update. Like Julie, that might change when the DEC does!

I was on the OHS Committee at my previous school. Have attended here as Honorary member, but declined to join after the WHS changes came into effect. While the Register comes under the umbrella of the WHS Committee here, the CSO is not a member and does not attend meetings.

Best Wishes

Yes we only set it up for the other dept, they must do it them selves. We do Science, register

I am responsible for science. I have my own register on a spread sheet on excel and manage this with chemwatch to do labelling and SDS. I have know idea what other departments do and don't want to. Can of worms to big for me!

Hi Chemtalk.
I was just sent an email by our business manager stating that it his understanding that I should be responsible for the uploading and upkeep of the chemical registar on chemwatch. I was just wondering if and labbies in independent school could let me know if they do the registar for the whole school or just for science.

Thankyou
Annett Stanley
Calrossy Anglican School
Tamworth

Hi Annett,
I do the whole schools chemical registers but I do it on an excel spreadsheet. We have the heads of each dept. provide a list of chemicals used in their area, which I collate and print a full sds for them and then give the folders with sds's to each dept. I am also in an independent school.

Hi Annett
I'm in a Catholic school and am responsible for the stocktake of science chemicals etc. I also have to organise other areas to do an annual stocktake. The person in charge of each area has to let me know if they require updated SDSs - it is their responsibility to check this information. I then update the manifest and print off copies of the new SDSs. Each area is supposed to have their own folder relating to their own hazardous substances and the front office also has a master set which I, too, am responsible for updating.

I currently use the Chemwatch manifest, but the Excel option looks good. I usually convert the Chemwatch manifest into an excel document to allow me to manipulate it to make it easier for other people to understand anyway.

I will not do other area's stock takes. If they complain about how much work they have, I offer to swap their half page list with my 9 page list, that usually keeps them quiet!

It really is a time consuming job, although the principal here has asked me to let him know if I need help with it, but I'm hoping to get it finished myself - eventually!

Same here,
I give them template but the do their own register. It should be kept in front office, where we keep our copy, but I can guarantee that no other department has done it. My HOD wants me to help them BUT NOT DO IT for them.
Lada

Hi Everyone
Thanks for your replies. sorry just a couple of more questions. For those of you who do the whole school, how big is your school (what are your stundent numbers) and what are your working hrs, that is do you get extra time out of science to undertake the mainifest duties. Sorry just trying to collect some evidence to present. My HoD doesn't wont me doing the whole school unless I get extra hrs, as we have 3 campuses and 3 separate boarding houses off campus so it is going to be a big job.

That sounds way too much work for one person, just the data entry alone would tie you up for a week.
We have about 1000 students and I work 35 hours a week. Getting the manifest updated and SDSs printed off is taking me a bit of time. I haven't made a concerted effort to get it done (hoping to spend some time on it this afternoon) but I started on the manifest about week 8 last term. At this stage I am not given special time to work on it, it's up to me to manage it around my science work, which I see as a priority. It is my first year here, so I'm not sure how long it is going to take me but I've told the principal another 3 weeks which he seemed happy with. I suspect if I ask for help, I will need to show that person how to do it and knowing what a clunky beast Chemwatch is, I think it's easier to persevere on my own unless I get really snowed under!

I am responsible only for the science chemical register. I have provided copies of the safety data sheets for my chemicals to admin and these have gone to the maintenance office to be on file in case of an emergency. There is also a copy of my chemical register, on excel spreadsheet, with the administration. All other departments, including maintenance, are responsible for providing data on their own chemicals to the appropriate admin people. I don't believe that a whole school register is the responsibility of the laboratory assistant. I believe that you are seriously being taken advantage of and I'm sure your original job description did not include being responsible for this work. Our school staff have access to Chemwatch (or whatever system it has been changed too) and there the responsibility lies.

I was reminded only recently that "funny enough it is not written in your job description" lol all these years from the original implementation to doing the whole school back to just Science.

Hi everyone
thankyou for all the imput looks like I will have to do the imput of the registar but the heads of departments will need to give me the info. But just one last question given that we are a prep to year 12 school whit things would you include in the registar eg would you put whiteboard cleaner ( has non hazardous on label but chemwatch list it as dangarous) just want to get it right and once set up should be easy to maintain.

We have kept the nonhazardous chemicals on our list in excel. but we printed out full sds's for hazardous and dangerous goods only for each area.
Hope it helps you.

ANd - what about SOP's? I dontknow about DEC schools, but we have to write our own...and do you know how long that takes and how many we need to do...argggggh