Chemical Inventory Management - What Works

1. Chemical Inventory Management - What Works Leigh Leonard, PRIZIM Inc.

2. Why Chemical Inventory Management? • The need to maintain an indefinite supply of chemical stocks is passé • Why? • Right-sizeyour chemical inventory to: • Free up valuable shelf, cabinet, and fume hood space • Improve productivity through labor savings • Reduce likelihood of serious spills and chemical exposures

3. Chemical Life-Cycle Costs EH&S “Studies show that for every dollar spent on chemicals, between $1 and $10 is spent managing those chemicals.” Chemical Strategies Partnership Used with permission from Tony Diamantidis, Chemical Safety Software Collection & Disposal Emergency Preparedness 9% 21% 6% Use 8% 27% 5% Purchase Cost Delivery 8% 5% Inventory 11% Inspection Procurement

4. Approaches • Front-end Inventory Control: • Passive – monitoring of what comes in without restriction • Active – point of purchase check point or approval required • Chemical inventory management policy

5. Automated Chemical InventoryManagement and Waste Tracking • Improves chemical stock utilization and makes cost allocation easier • Components: • Inventory management (spreadsheet or database) • Barcoding • Waste tracking

6. Back-end inventory management: Identify and earmark usable excess stocks Find either internal or external users Issues: MSDS, liability, information dissemination Chemical Inventory Management Chemicals for redistribution at UW-Madison

7. Functionality of Automated Systems • Link chemical to spaces within facility/building • Identify control areas/spaces within building • Laboratory design tie-in • Security tie-in • Allow users to share chemical products • Ease of tracking and reporting

8. List-based Chemical Reporting • Identity of specific material • Identity and cumulative quantity • Identify, cumulative quantity and spatial differentiation

9. Performance-based Reporting • Report by hazard category • Report by hazard category and quantity • Report by hazard category, quantity and spatial distribution • Report cumulative total quantity by physical state, hazard category, cumulative quantity and spatial distribution

10. Stanford University System Requirements • Provide value to the core business user • generate compliance data as a by-product of conducting core business • Allow flexible implementation and maintenance • Adaptable to new regulatory requirements • Sustainable and scalable for the long-term • Integrate with purchasing and space management systems

11. Examples of Commercial Systems • ChemTracker Consortium • College and university-focused system developed by Stanford University • Vertere • Materials Compliance Solutions by Atrion

12. Environmental Purchasing Program • Can tie together with chemical inventory management • Organized approach to proactively purchase environmentally preferable products • Recycled content materials – examples? • Environmentally friendly products • Safer products • Sustainable contracting

13. Closing Thoughts • Chemical inventory management system does not have to be fancy to be useful – a simple spreadsheet can go a long way • Most effective if used within a policy framework • Purchase chemicals commensurate with normal use rates (e.g., one to two semesters) • Approved chemical products list • Standardize and share stocks – within departments, between schools