RIT
Environmental Health & Safety

Chemical Inventory

Managing hazardous chemicals at colleges and universities is a daunting task due to the wide variety and types of chemicals stored, the number of containers containing these chemicals, the number of chemical owners responsible for these chemicals, and how decentralized the storage locations are across campus.

In order to assist RIT in managing the chemical inventories campus-wide for emergency response, Fire Code, SARA Tier II and Department of Homeland Security compliance, the Environmental Health and Safety Department has purchased the ChemTracker software system.

ChemTracker provides powerful tools for Chemical Owners to maintain and control their chemical inventories directly from their own web browser and for the EH&S Department to review compliance status and generate regulatory reports. Laboratory personnel and chemical owners are responsible for data entry and helping to eliminate transcription errors and data duplication.

Getting Started

What do Chemical Owners across RIT's campus need to inventory?

What to include in your inventory What not to include
  • All chemicals and chemical products (except those listed to the right)
  • All compressed and liquefied gases
  • Lubricants, fuels, and oils (motor oil, gasoline, diesel, vacuum pump oil)
  • Aerosol cans spray lubricants
  • Paints including spray paints
  • Pesticides and Biocides
  • Retail products used for routine household-like activities (cleansers, dish soap)
  • Materials to be expended with 1-2 days (working solutions)
  • Enzyme Preparations
  • Radioactive materials
  • Biological materials
  • Microorganisms
  • Non-hazardous buffers
  • Growth media

Logging In

  1. Go to https://suehsref.stanford.edu/CTv3/sites/rit/login.jsp . You can also access ChemTracker from the EH&S Department’s Home Page.
  2. Enter the user name and password provided to you by the EH&S Department.
  3. If you have forgotten you user name or password contact the EH&S Department at 475-2040.
Log In Video Instructions

Adding Inventory

Chemical Owners will need to add inventory if they purchase a new chemical or add to existing stock. You will not have to input information into ChemTracker every time you use a chemical. You should only input into ChemTracker the maximum amount of stock you will have at any one time. The only time you will need to edit data is when you will need more or less of a chemical on an ongoing basis.

When you add inventory into ChemTracker, you must do so on a per container basis. For example, if you buy a case of acetone containing four 1-gallon containers, you must add each container separately rather than the total quantity of the amount purchased.

To add inventory:

  1. From the Main Screen click on the "Inventory" tab. You will see a drop down list of items. Click on "Add Inv".
  2. You are required to fill in each of the rows that are highlighted in blue. You can also add extra information at your discretion in the remaining rows.
  3. The best way to add information is to double click on the blue filed box. This will pull up a drop down pick list.
  4. For Chemical Name try to select the chemical from the drop down pick list.
  5. If you can not find the chemical on the drop down pick list, enter the chemical as is.
  6. When you have finished entering data, click the “Save” button.
  7. A new window will appear asking you "Number to create." Enter the number of chemical containers and then click "Save." Disregard the barcode box.
Add Inventory Video Instructions

Finding Inventory

Chemical Owners can search for an individual chemical they own, search for all the chemicals in a room, or look at all of the chemicals in all of their locations.

To find inventory:

  1. From the Main Screen click on the "Inventory" tab. You will see a drop down list of items. Click on “ByValue”.
  2. Double click on the "Owner" field and pick your name from the pick list.
  3. To see all of the chemicals in your inventory, click either the "English" or "Metric" search buttons at the top of the screen. The inventory will appear on the right side of the screen.
  4. To search for all of the chemicals in a room double click on the "Room" field. Pick the desired room from the pick list then click either the "English" or "Metric" search buttons at the top of the screen. The room inventory will appear on the right side of the screen.
  5. To obtain detailed information for either a single chemical from the search list or for all of the chemicals resulting from a search, click either the "Item" or the "All" Detail buttons at the top of the screen.
Find Inventory Video Instructions

Computer Requirements

The following specifications are recommended for both desktop and laptop computers used with ChemTracker, for either PCs or Macs.

Install Java Plug-in

ChemTracker Version 3 uses a “Java applet” to run the user interface portion of the application in your browser, and applets require a JRE (Java Runtime Environment) to be installed as a plug-in in your browser. Many modern browsers already come with a Java Plug-in installed, but it is best to download and install the latest plug-in from Sun Microsystems; install the Java Plug-in from this site for all operating systems.

Supported Browsers

All recent (current and first prior) versions of the following browsers are supported, but many other versions of these and most other Java version 1.1 compatible browsers should also work. We recommend you use the most recent version of one of the following:

PC

Mac

Browser Settings for Internet Explorer (PC)
Browser Settings for Firefox (PC and Mac) & Netscape Navigator (PC)
Browser Settings for Safari (Mac)