Chemicals¶
Given the limited experimental research conducted within the discipline, the chemical inventory is somewhat limited. Some chemicals are required for general purposes, in addition to those required for teaching purposes; however, chemicals of high regulatory burden which were previously used within the discipline have largely been disposed of and those still required are stored outside the building.
Chemical management¶
The university's policy on chemical management can be found on the safety and wellbeing site which was overhauled in March 2022 by [[mailto:samuel.poynter@utas.edu.au|Sam Poynter]], with the additional promise of
In addition to the new content on this page, there are a number of future updates in the works including an improved role definition and resources for Hazardous Chemical Coordinators, and additional Chemwatch training materials. We may shift some of this material to a new intranet page as well; please stay tuned for any advice on this so you can keep your bookmarks up to date
Inventory management ====¶
The records of which chemicals we possess and their quantities are stored on [[https://www.chemwatch.net/|Chemwatch]]. To access the manifest, one must find the [[https://jr.chemwatch.net/chemwatch.web/account/login|login page]] (non-trivial!) and then enter the following details:
^ Field ^ Response ^ | Account | unitas | | UserName | EVERYONE | | Password | everyone |
This will provide read-only access to the manifest, allowing for inventory stocktake, access to Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs), and the generation of labels for chemicals. If write access is required, one will need to use the details listed below:
^ Field ^ Response ^ | Account | unitas | | UserName | physics | | Password | cosmic |
The hierarchy for the chemical inventory is MANIFEST => Physics => Physics Building (SB.AU14) => //Room number//: //description//.
Hazardous chemicals¶
Any chemical which satisfies any criteria of one or more hazard classes within the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globally_Harmonized_System_of_Classification_and_Labelling_of_Chemicals|Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals]] (GHS) is deemed //hazardous//. In-depth information on the system can be found on the [[https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/topic/labelling-chemicals|Safe Work Australia website]]; however the simplest way to check is using Chemwatch, either from the MSDS or the inventory and checking the [[https://www.ntc.gov.au/codes-and-guidelines/australian-dangerous-goods-code|Dangerous Goods]] (DG) code.
High-resolution pictograms can be downloaded from can be downloaded directly from the [[https://unece.org/transportdangerous-goods/ghs-pictograms|UN website]].
A register of hazardous chemicals must be compiled wherever hazardous chemicals are held. The management of the chemicals is handled by the //Hazardous Chemicals Co-ordinator// (unclear who this is), although it is the duty of research supervisors to maintain registers for all hazardous chemicals for which they are responsible.
Safe use of chemicals¶
Best practice for chemical usage should be followed at all times, and these should be outlined in the [[safety:risk|Safe Work Procedure]] for the given task. In practical terms, you shouldn't be using any chemicals with which you are not familiar. To learn more about a particular chemical, the most detailed information can be found in a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_data_sheet|[Material] Safety Data Sheet]] ([M]SDS) which also details the procedures for exposure to said chemical. As stated above, SDSs can be access using [[https://jr.chemwatch.net/chemwatch.web/account/login|Chemwatch]] and indeed, the required repository of SDSs for hazardous chemicals is accessed through the Chemwatch area manifest. It is therefore important that these be kept up to date.
It is worth noting that awareness of chemical safety is not limited to those that use chemicals, but by all that inhabit the same environment. For example, there have a string on incidents in the discipline whereby highly-toxic chemicals have been discovered (including a bottle of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_cyanide|potassium cyanide]], a jar of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury(II)_oxide|mercury oxide]], and blocks of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadmium|cadmium]]) with no institutional knowledge of their existence or provenance. In these cases, it has been fortunate that the people involved recognised the risks posed by said substances, but one can imagine a scenario whereby a bottle of nasty was discovered and the outcome was not so benign.
Chemical disposal¶
Every 6 months, (June and December)
Email David.elliott@cleanaway.com.au