UWA and all Workers have obligations under the WHS Act to manage chemicals safely and thus reduce the risks they pose to themselves and others.

Legislation, standards and policies

Refer to the links below. Please note that printed copies are uncontrolled.

Chemical safety training

All staff and students must complete the following training and be assessed as competent prior to working with chemicals.

Safety data sheets (SDSs)

An SDS must be available for all hazardous or dangerous items that are used or stored in your area. SDSs may be supplied as electronic or paper copies and must be <5 years old.

Accessing safety data sheets

The SDS file is found on thereports tab of the product details for the ChemAlert entry for an item.To retrieve a SDS go to ChemAlert and search for your product. If the SDS product is not available you may request its addition by contacting [email protected]. 

Many SDSs are also available electronically from the websites of the manufacturers or suppliers. To have one uploaded to the ChemAlert system contact [email protected].

Chemical risk assessments

During the planning of any procedure involving chemicals and prior to purchase, potential hazards must be identified, and the risks assessed. This ensures that all staff, students and visitors are aware of potential hazards, and that appropriate handling techniques and control requirements are in place to minimise risk to personnel and University property.

Refer to complete a chemical risk assessment.

Chemical Emergency Prevention Measures

In addition to UWA Safety general emergency procedures, the following should be available in your local area:

• Emergency numbers prominently displayed.
• First aid supplies, and training, are suitable for the chemicals used and stored.
• Suitable spill kits are available
• Remoteness or other complicating factors have been considered when developing your emergency procedures.
• Any other emergency procedures and requirements (as outlined in the SDS) are available.

Health Monitoring

Where monitoring is required, baseline samples must be taken prior to working with the reagent and a sample schedule has been organized. Records must be kept for thirty years for each person who works with substances requiring health monitoring.

Check the following links to determine if health monitoring is required:

• WorkSafe Australia Health Monitoring 

• WorkSafe WA Health Surveillance

Scheduled carcinogenic substances

Refer to the section below on Dangerous goods and chemicals of high consequence or concern: carcinogens, mutagens and teratogens.

ChemAlert is an online program available to all UWA staff, students and visitors for the management of chemicals via the intranet and the retrieval of Safety Data Sheets (SDS).

The ChemAlert program should be used for:

• maintenance of chemical inventories
• retrieval of current SDS
• label printing for hazardous substances and dangerous goods
• management of storage and segregation of dangerous goods.

It is also a necessary tool for assisting in development and completion of:

• Chemical risk assessments
• Annual chemical audits
• Emergency protocols
• Waste disposal protocols
• Chemical safety training

ChemAlert can also be used for:

• add chemicals made in-house to an inventory
• manage risk assessments
• access region-specific product details and reports
• access links to many resources for e.g., changes in legislation

Some of the features require a username and password.

To access the full functions of ChemAlert, including training for the program, refer to Access ChemAlert.

Procurement

Before acquiring any chemical, ensure you are aware of the following:

For more information on how to submit a purchase order, refer to Purchase Goods and Services.

Permits and licenses

You must have a permit to purchase and use the following types of chemicals. Ensure the necessary permits or licences are arranged before you import or export a chemical.

Concessional Spirits

• Refer to Chemical Safety at UWA: Concessional Spirits

Drugs and Scheduled Poisons

• Illicit drugs: 

  • Chemical Safety at UWA: Illicit Drug Precursors 

  • Australian Border Force Customs Notice: Precusor chemicals

• Carcinogens, Mutagens or Teratogens:

  • Seek Approval for Carcinogen, Mutagen or Teratogen use

  • Work Health and Safety (General) Regulations 2022: Schedule 10 — Prohibited carcinogens, restricted carcinogens and restricted hazardous chemicals

• Poisons

  • WA Department of Health: Licences and permits under the Medicines and Poisons Act

Some Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals, including chemicals of Security Concern and Chemical Weapons Precursors

• Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA)
• WA Department of Mines: Ammonium nitrate
• The Australia Group Export Control List: Chemical Weapons Precursors

Segregation

Refer to the AS/NZS 2243.2:2021 and specifications from the manufacturer/supplier:

• Segregate wet chemicals from dry

• Store liquids below dry reagents

• Where necessary store bunded or on deep trays to contain spills/leaks 

Dangerous Goods

• Dangerous Goods must be separated and segregated according to quantities and incompatibilities listed in section 10 of the SDS 

• Store in dangerous goods cabinets where appropriate. Chemical cabinets must meet the relevant Australian Standards (AS1940 and AS3780).

Gas cylinders

• Pressurised gas cylinders must be secured. Where possible have gas piped into a lab.

Correct labelling of all chemicals is critical to workplace safety, is a legal requirement and avoids costly disposal of unknown products.

There are different labelling requirements for hazardous and non-hazardous substances and also for chemical wastes.

Commercially available chemicals should be appropriately labelled by the manufacturer and will not generally require relabelling. If a label is damaged, obscured, or chemicals are decanted into a new container or used to make a new solution, a new label is required. This procedure supplies the information that is required for different types of chemical products, and how to print labels out.

Annual local chemical stocktake

It is essential that an annual chemical stocktake is conducted in your local area to ensure the safety of all personnel and compliance with legislative requirements for the storage and use of chemicals.

The role of the annual stocktake within the chemical management system is to ensure that:

• the inventory of chemicals in your workplace is accurate
• Safety Data Sheets are current and available for all substances
• all substances are appropriately labelled
• substances are correctly stored and dangerous goods segregated
• products no longer in use are disposed of appropriately.

Annual chemical stocktake procedure using ChemAlert

The annual chemical stocktake should be a part of the chemical management system for each school or section. It should be used in conjunction with ChemAlert and procedures provided by Safety and Health.

ChemAlert allows stock inventories and storage incompatibility reports for chemical storage locations to be printed, and these can be checked against the physical holdings during the stocktake. If ChemAlert is being used the stocktake process should involve:

1. printing stock holding report and storage incompatibility report for the area being audited
2. checking physical holdings against the stockholding report
3. checking labelling and replacing damaged or deficient labels using ChemAlert
4. checking storage of chemicals (for example, that there is nothing in fume cupboards)
5. correcting any storage incompatibilities identified in the storage incompatibility report
6. disposing of chemicals no longer in use
7. update the ChemAlert register to reflect physical holdings.

If the stocktake is performed in this way it will ensure that:

• a current register of hazardous substances is available
• a current manifest of dangerous goods is available
• current Material Safety Data Sheets are available for all products
• all products are correctly labelled, stored and segregated.

Chemicals no longer in use

The annual chemical stocktake should identify any products that are no longer in use or are too old or deteriorated to be of future use. These products should be disposed of appropriately, or donated to an area that has use for them. This can be organised through contacting the Safety team by emailing: [email protected].

Annual school chemical audit

The annual school chemical audit aims to assess a school's chemical management system and its operation.

The audit will indicate areas within the school's chemical management system that require attention in order to improve the level of safety for personnel and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. The focus of the audit is the practical implementation of chemical safety across UWA, and improvement of the chemical management system.

Audit aims

The general aim of the audit process is to develop and maintain a culture where chemicals are safely used and managed, by ensuring that:

• chemical management systems are in place and documented
• training and induction is carried out and documented
• chemical inventories are current
• Safety Data Sheets (SDS) are current and available
• chemicals are appropriately stored and segregated
• emergency response procedures are in place and are practised
• waste management and disposal protocols are in place
• a system for risk assessment is in use
• personnel are aware of their responsibilities in the chemical management system

The audit will also provide an opportunity for specific feedback to Safety to allow improvement of the University chemical management system.

Audit procedure

The school chemical audit is divided into the following sections

1. Chemical management structure

Identification of the chemical management structure in the area being audited. Every chemical storage area in the section should be covered by identifying all groups storing and/or using chemicals (teaching, research, workshops). Each group should have a supervisor and a person who is responsible for chemical stock control.

2. Chemical management system

The system by which chemical registers, manifests and SDS are stored and maintained. UWA uses ChemAlert for management of chemicals.

3. Procedures and protocols

Waste, emergency, after hours, and so on.

4. Training and induction

Refer to Chemical Safety: Risk management and emergencies - chemical safety training.

5. Chemical risk assessment system

Refer to complete a chemical risk assessment. 

6. Physical inspection of chemical storage areas

• inventory/manifest and SDS available
• chemicals (including wastes) appropriately labelled
• chemicals stored appropriately and segregated (no fume cupboard storage, storage above 1.5m, cabinets used)
• Dangerous Goods Cabinets in good repair, bunds clear, only appropriate items within cabinet
• emergency response equipment and information available – spill kit, emergency shower/ eye wash station
• after hours contact information clearly available (on wall near exit and hand basin)
• risk assessments documented and available
• general tidiness
• access ChemAlert safety information and SDS

Assess and prepare items for disposal 

Plan waste management before working with a chemical. Regularly dispose of unwanted or waste reagents using UWA's recycling arrangements or biannual waste disposal arrangements. 

When handling items for disposal:

• Read the SDS and wear appropriate PPE (safety glasses and double layer of nitrile gloves as a minimum)
• Dispose of soiled gloves into laboratory waste bins
• Don't work in isolation - ensure colleagues are within calling distance
• Use sturdy transparent plastic bags available in case anything needs sealing up
• Use sturdy plastic tubs and safe transport practices when moving items to the collection location
• Don't open, sniff or otherwise investigate anything

Prior to disposing, consider the following:

Is the chemical old or in poor condition?

If the chemical has been sitting in the container for a number of years there may be some hazards associated with moving it.

For example there have been cases where chemicals have been stored for a long time in sealed Winchesters – in this time crystals have formed, or pressure has built up in the bottles, and the containers have later exploded without warning. Moving containers like this increases the risk of explosion. 

If your chemicals are old read the Safety Data Sheet very carefully before you move them at all and contact the Chemical and Safety Adviser if you are still unsure.

Correctly label and segregate chemical waste

Segregating wastes is a good safe work practice and makes disposal of waste simpler and cheaper. Chemical wastes must be labelled with a completed UWA chemical waste label (available in various sizes) with the following information:

• full chemical names and concentrations of all constituents (abbreviations and chemical symbols/structures are not adequate)
• an indication as to whether the waste contains either hazardous substances or dangerous goods
• the name of the user and contact number
• the date over which waste was collected
• the location from which the waste was collected (school/section, building, lab number).

Refer to the section above on Chemical Management: Labelling for more information and forms. 

Fill in the Chemical Disposal Manifest Form for UWA Safety's biannual collection

UWA Safety co-ordinates two University-wide collections of unwanted and/or waste chemicals per year. To access this collection, refer to the entry on how to Manifest Chemicals for Disposal.