From: "Dr. Carlos Rentas Jr., CSP, CHMM" <crentas1**At_Symbol_Here**VERIZON.NET>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] SDS review of chemicals to be purchased--standard practice?
Date: Fri, 5 Aug 2016 18:55:46 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: B531B509-2983-491B-ADE7-FF367CBAE8F8**At_Symbol_Here**verizon.net
In-Reply-To <2E68EA190EA75E4C9399D75B40B6346679A61B88**At_Symbol_Here**EX01.eup.edinboro.edu>


This is a common practice for chemical purchases at many educational institutions. EH&S is required by law to maintain inventory records and SDS of chemical purchases for Emergency Response, and reports to Government Agencies. Some schools are not allowed to make any chemicals outside the purchase order system, no samples or individual chemical purchases by credit card are allowed (so you re lucky). In my institution all chemical purchases had to be reviewed by EH&S and signature approval on the PO.

Dr. Carlos Rentas Jr., CSP
Risk Management Consultant Occupational Health & Safety
6221 Golf Villas Drive
Boynton Beach FL 33437-4119
Bus/Cell: (718) 813-1883

On Aug 5, 2016, at 4:10 PM, Rogers, Janet <ROGERS**At_Symbol_Here**EDINBORO.EDU> wrote:

To All:

Our EH&S officer has decided that we have to send him the SDS for every chemical we are going to purchase so that he can review it before we are allowed to purchase the chemical.  Then, he wants us to send him the SDS that came with the chemical.

Is this a standard practice?  I can see reviewing SDS for very hazardous substances, but even for chemicals sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate?  I can understand his reviewing the SDS for substances we've never previously used on campus.  However, I think he'll drive himself (and us) crazy if he looks over every single SDS every time we make a purchase.  

I fought to get the administration to allow us to make purchases with a credit card so we could make purchases shortly before we used chemicals in class.  This procedure let us order smaller quantities and has helped us reduce our inventory, since we no longer had to "over purchase", just to guarantee that we would have enough material for our classes should the purchasing paperwork get held up.

Please let me know what level of EH&S scrutiny of chemical purchases is considered standard practice at undergraduate academic institutions.

I look forward to your responses.

Janet Rogers, Ph.D.

Professor

Chemistry Department

Edinboro University

230 Scotland Road

Edinboro, PA  16444

 

phone: 814.732.1539

e-mail: rogers**At_Symbol_Here**edinboro.edu

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