Vertere Instructions - University of Regina

Realize. It starts with you. Vertére Chemical Inventory Management System -General Overview-

Health, Health, Safety Safety & & Environment Environment

Introduction • The University of Regina is required to keep an up-to-date inventory of all hazardous materials on campus • We have been implementing the online inventory slowly over the last couple years • Please contact HSE to obtain your username and password ([email protected])

Health, Safety & Environment

Access You can access Vertere from any computer (on or off campus) by following the link below:

Vertere http://bit.ly/UofR-inventory  Please bookmark this link on all lab and office computers so everyone has quick and easy access to the inventory

Health, Health, Safety Safety & & Environment Environment

Log-in screen


Most of you will only have access to the Chemical Module at this time


View/Update

The View/Update area will be the main area you will be working with


Search by Chemical Name The most common type of search will be by chemical name...

It’s a good idea to click the ‘Synonym’ button. This ensures that searching for ethyl alcohol, for example, will return results for ethanol as well


Search by Chemical Name ...however, you will notice that this search generated no results.

That is because the search parameter is set as “Chem Name Is” Health, Safety & Environment

Search by Chemical Name

It is better to chose “contains” from the dropdown menu when doing this type of search


Search by Chemical Name Now we can see that 2 results have been found from this search


Search by CAS Number

Searching by CAS # is typically the most accurate way to search for a chemical


Search by User You can also search by the principle investigator (PI) that the chemicals are listed under.

You can expand the “All User” list, or scroll down to find the Group the PI is listed under. (Eg: Chem Lab Instructors are listed under “Chemistry Instructional Group”) Health, Safety & Environment

Search Results The chemicals are listed alphabetically by name. You can click on any of the column headings to sort by that parameter


Search By Location - Building You can search by Location as well. The drop down list shows all the buildings on campus

Clicking on the [+] beside the building will show the sub-locations (Rooms) of that building Health, Safety & Environment

Search by Location – Room

Some rooms have been further divided into sub-locations. Health, Safety & Environment

Search by Location – Sub-location

These are generally descriptive locations such as shelves and cabinets (you can decide which locations you would like to be added) Health, Safety & Environment

Accessing an MSDS By checking the box beside a particular chemical...

...and clicking the “Chemwatch MSDS” button, you will get...


...The MSDS for that chemical. •Please note that this is the Chemwatchgenerated MSDS, not the vendor MSDS! •If you wish to view the vendor MSDS you can copy/paste the chem name or CAS# into the ChemFFX site (bit.ly/UR-MSDS)


If you click the pencil icon beside a chemical, it will take you to the inventory information page for that entry


Inventory Information

There are several tabs to chose from, let’s look under the ‘status’ tab first. Health, Safety & Environment

Inventory Information – Status This tab gives you the date that this chemical was last inventoried.

If you see a date in this field, but have found the chemical, please inform HSE so that we may update the inventory, as this item was missed during the last reconciliation process. Health, Safety & Environment

Inventory Information – Status

You have the option of specifying how the item is going to be used, but you are not required to enter this information Health, Safety & Environment

Inventory Information – Custom Data

Now let’s look at the ‘Custom Data’ tab.

Here you have the option of entering the date the chemical was opened, and/or the expiry date of the chemical. Health, Safety & Environment

Inventory Information – Custom Data

In many cases it is a good idea to use these fields: •Keeping track of chemicals that may need to be disposed of due to expiry •Ascertaining whether a chemical is suitable for use in your experiment (in some cases, if a chemical is not ‘fresh’ it will not have the required reactivity) •Peroxide-formers


Chemical Information Gateway

Now let’s look at the ‘Chemical Information Gateway’ tab.

We can view the physical and chemical data by clicking this button. Health, Safety & Environment

We can see information such as boiling point, and density under the ‘Physical’ tab. Please note that this information will not be present for every substance, depending on if the vendor catalogue is linked with the Vertere system


NFPA Fire Diamond

The NFPA Fire Diamond, and other information can be found under the ‘Chemical’ tab To get back to the main chemical inventory information page for this chemical, click here


Chemical Information - Synonyms

We are now back at the ‘Chemical Information Gateway’ tab

Clicking this button will take us to the list of synonyms for this chemical Health, Safety & Environment

Chemical Information - Synonyms

The list can be quite long, and often will include the chemical name used in other languages


Again, clicking here will take us back to where we were.

Consumption/Refill

Now let’s look at the ‘Consumption/Refill’ tab.


If you choose to keep track of your consumption, you can enter the information here. The system will automatically calculate the amount remaining in the container


This may be helpful in determining when to purchase chemicals, or to see if you have enough of a particular chemical to carry out your experiment, but this feature may not be practical for all users.

Let’s go back to the main search page, by clicking here


Changing a Barcode If you notice a bottle has a barcode that is beginning to fade, or is damaged in some way...

Check the box beside the chemical, and click the “Change Tag” button


Changing a Barcode

You can now affix a new barcode (available from HSE or Science Stores), and enter the number here. Please double check that there are no typos when entering the number


Transfer a Chemical

Check off the box beside the chemical you wish to transfer, and then click the Transfer button


Transfer a Chemical

Choose the location the chemical is now going to be stored/used, and ensure that the correct PI is assigned, then click Complete Transfer


Dispose of a Chemical One other option you have (upon request) is to dispose of a chemical yourself

Simply check the box beside the chemical, and click the “Dispose” button


Dispose of a Chemical This will primarily be used by those who go through larger volumes of chemicals (such as solvents) and do not wish to record and hand in a list of barcodes to Science Stores or HSE as frequently as they would need to Be sure to choose your name from the drop-down list

And chose the method of disposal (will commonly be ‘consumed’)


Dispose of a Chemical •Please note that once a chemical is disposed of, that barcode is listed as disposed... permanently. •For that reason, this option is not automatically available to all users. •If you wish to have this control over your inventory, please contact HSE to get your user rights changed


Inventory Maintenance • If chemicals are purchased through Science Stores, they will be barcoded and entered into Vertere. • You can then transfer the item to a particular sub-location • When you have emptied a container, please remove the barcode


Inventory Maintenance • Triple rinse the container, deface the labels, and dispose of the container as usual • Keep the barcode (or record the number) • These barcodes need to be entered as “disposed” in Vertere • Sticking the barcodes on a sheet of paper makes this process fairly simple


Inventory Maintenance • Hand in the “disposed” barcodes to Science Stores, or to HSE (Sarah Posehn) so that the inventory can be updated • To keep the inventory as current as possible, hand in barcodes frequently • Alternatively, you can record the barcode number and email the list • Please make sure to watch for typos if you choose this method! Health, Safety & Environment

Inventory Maintenance • If a chemical is not purchased through Science Stores (or if Science Stores is unable to open the package, etc) then you must ensure the inventory is updated • Email [email protected] the required information and she will enter it into the system and assign a barcode • Pick up the barcode and affix it to the container Health, Safety & Environment

Inventory Maintenance • The information required to enter the chemical into the inventory is shown below, a copy of this spreadsheet can be obtained from the HSE website


Inventory Maintenance • Sarah will return the form to you, showing the barcode each chemical has been assigned


Inventory Maintenance • If you wish to add chemicals to your inventory yourself, you will need to contact HSE • We will change your user settings to allow inventory additions, and explain the proper procedure for doing so • You will then be given a small stock of barcodes to use for this purpose • Contact HSE if you are running low on barcodes Health, Safety & Environment