ChemTracker Consortium – The higher education collaboration for chemical inventory management and regulatory reporting

Abstract

Tracking chemical inventory is necessary for safety management as well as regulatory compliance. However, this task is especially challenging for diverse and decentralized research and laboratory organizations. Safety and compliance, waste minimization, emergency preparedness, and facility planning design all benefit from knowing what chemicals exist at a facility, who has responsibility for them, and where they are located. Stanford University developed a web-based application for chemical inventory information management and compliance reporting throughout its research and service support operations. After successful implementation and use at Stanford, and significant interest, approval and use by other organizations, Stanford's chemical management solution is now accessible to other not-for-profit institutions through a consortium member arrangement. The chemical information management system is currently used by twelve colleges and universities and one hospital clinical laboratory. This system provides powerful tools for users to control their chemical inventory, access safety information, maintain inventories, review compliance and generate complex regulatory reports. Since all users operate from a hosted, centrally located application server site via their own desktop web browsers, minimal local IT support is required. This collaborative system support approach encourages rapid user acceptance, facilitates single click compliance reporting and supports best in class lab safety management in a cost-effective and efficient manner for higher education.