Did you know that around 2 million people died from being exposed to hazardous chemicals in 2019? There is a long list of hazardous chemicals, and if they aren’t organized and kept secure, they could do some serious harm. This is why it is important to have a secure hazmat inventory system.
But what does a hazmat inventory system do? How can it help you manage a chemical inventory? What kind of security benefits does it have?
Keep reading and learn more about how it works below.
What You Need to Know About Hazmat Security Systems
Dangerous things can happen if you don’t keep track of a hazmat chemical inventory. This type of inventory deals with countless gallons and canisters of harmful chemicals. These canisters may be filled with caustic liquid, gas, hazardous solids, and so on.
They may need to get stored at particular facilities or moved between facilities. If you don’t have a good inventory system to keep track of all these chemicals, they could get lost. Items get lost in warehouses or in transit all the time.
It isn’t a big deal when working with regular materials. But losing hazardous materials could be a serious problem. These materials need to get to their destinations safely.
It is also important that they get stored in the right facilities in the right way. It is also important that nothing breaks or damages these chemical containers. Doing so could cause a serious leak that would be very costly and time-consuming to clean up.
The problem is that it is hard to keep track of all the things that can go wrong when you don’t have a good inventory system. Keeping track of things manually is a concept of the past. This old-fashioned way of keeping an inventory of hazmat materials has a high risk of making mistakes.
This is the nature of human error.
Human Error and Web-Based Systems
You might write down the wrong measurements or type in the wrong number when logging new materials. But a small mistake like that can have disastrous consequences.
It can confuse the entire inventory system and make it difficult to find the right products. It can also make it easier to lose products or ship them out to the wrong locations. This is why it is such a good idea to turn to a web-based system instead.
Most inventory systems are already doing this. A web-based system is far easier to work with. It also does most of the heavy lifting for you.
This is because many of its systems are automated or designed to be very easy. This reduces the risk of human error. It also makes your job easier.
While you will still need to be careful when taking inventory of everything, you won’t have to stress as much over your job. The web-based system will instead act as a safety net.
It can help double-check everything you do to make sure that all those hazardous chemicals are going or staying where they’re supposed to be.
The Benefits of a Hazmat Inventory System
The benefit of a web-based system is that it can do almost anything you want. It is very versatile and can take on any task that you throw at it. It is especially flexible when dealing with different types of hazmat inventory systems.
There are two main types: static systems and dynamic systems. A static inventory is very simple in that it is not necessary to take physical inventory counts all the time. It is necessary to do this only every so often.
This is ideal for inventories that don’t see a lot of transportation. The dynamic system is more in-depth. It is necessary to take inventory and record every transaction that happens. This includes chemicals that arrive, chemicals that get shipped out or moved, and so on.
Every transaction gets written down. This ensures that you know where a chemical is going and where it is every step of the way. This is important for very dangerous or expensive chemicals.
A web-based system can help you with both of these inventory types. All you need to do is pick which system you want your inventory system to function as. The system will then do the rest for you.
This makes it easier to start working right away rather than fiddling with the settings and details. This also makes it easier to keep from losing things in transit or when moving materials to a different area of the warehouse. A web-based system can also be used at several different locations.
Old-fashioned chemical inventory systems are good for one facility. But a web-based system can connect to as many facilities as you want. This is ideal for seeing how different inventory systems are doing at different facilities.
What You Need to Know
It also makes it easier to see where certain materials are going and if they got to their location. Such a system also allows you to keep track of different units of measure with ease. You can use the system to convert certain units of measurement to another system of measurement.
You can also define standard measures and products. This makes it easy to identify different products when filing through the web-based system. Once you take inventory, the web-based system will record the information for you.
This makes it easy to look back on that information whenever you need to. This is important if certain products are moved in or out of the facility. You can then compare the current state of the inventory with a previous recording of the inventory.
If something doesn’t match up, you can use the web-based system to figure out where the problem is. This ensures that you won’t waste your time hopelessly looking for something. You can instead find the root of the problem right away and fix it.
Another big benefit is that a web-based hazmat system can easily provide you with important regulatory forms. This is important because regulatory forms are often needed when handling hazardous materials. You may need Form R, Tier I & II, California Title 19, and so on.
Going through these forms manually is a pain. But having a web-based system take care of it for you will save you time. It will also save you energy and keep you from getting stressed.
What Else Can a Hazmat Inventory System Do?
Another benefit of a web-based inventory system is that it is great for collecting regulatory data. You can’t inventory hazardous materials without proper regulatory data. A good inventory system will provide you with a long list of materials you can document, often more than 150,000.
Each one has specific information, regulatory data, and synonyms. This helps identify each chemical and keeps them from getting mixed up with others. The system will document the reportable quantities and other important information.
This information comes straight from government agencies. Your web-based inventory will act as the perfect siphon for you to receive this information. You can then use it as you see fit to keep your inventory system running as efficiently as possible.
It can also help you with tagging SDSs so you can stay on top of reportability. A web-based system can help predict what kind of hazardous materials might be needed in a transaction.
The Details
If something needs to get sprayed down with a protective chemical, your inventory system can predict the process.
It will determine what kind of emissions might get produced, what chemicals are needed or need to get processed, and so on. The system can then make sure that the right regulatory forms are on hand like Form R to make sure everything gets done properly.
This makes everything safer and ensures that everything follows the right guidelines. This system can also cover simpler tasks like printing labels for shipments that need to get moved. It can do barcode inventory collection as well.
These tasks may not seem very important, but they can make your job far simpler. A web-based system will do nothing but improve your efficiency, speed, and effectiveness.
All About Hazmat Inventory Systems
Hazmat inventory systems are ideal for keeping track of different products. It can help you organize everything in your facility and make sure nothing gets lost. It can also help you with regulatory data, forms, barcodes, labels, and more.
All this improves your quality of work and makes your job much more efficient. To learn more about how it works, check out our options.
