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Frequently Asked Questions (Chemical FAQ)

How Do I Log In To UC Chemicals?

UC Chemicals is available on both mobile (App Store and Google Play) and desktop platforms. You can access the system from a desktop by clicking the following link: https://ehs.ucop.edu/chemicals. Log in using your Net ID & Password.

For troubleshooting or reporting issues, please contact service@RiskandSafetySolutions.com or by calling 530-638-DESK (3375)

Can I use a non-UC email address to access UC Chemicals?

No. A UC email is required. If the user does not have campus credentials, a Temporary Affiliate Account (TAF) will need to be created for the user.

How Do I Use UC Chemicals?

Please see our RSS Resources and Tutorials page for webinar registrations (with RSS Academy) and guidance documents/videos under the Chemicals section.

What Do I Include In My Online Chemical Inventory?

All materials that are classifed as the following are required to be in UC Chemicals:

  • Toxic 
  • Oxidizing
  • Corrosive
  • Flammable
  • Reactive
  • Carcinogenic
  • Pyrophoric
  • Combustible
  • Explosive
  • Organic peroxide
  • Any liquids and gases under pressure (including liquid nitrogen tanks and compressed air cylinders)

You are encouraged to include ALL hazardous materials in your inventory so the information is readily available to emergency responders.

Is There Anything I Do NOT Need To Include In My Inventory?
  • Retail products used and stored in amounts and frequencies typical to ordinary household usage
  • Etiologic agents (bacteria, viruses, select agents, and toxins)
  • Biological culture media, agar, serum proteins, albumin
  • Enzyme preparations
  • Non-hazardous buffers
  • Radioactive materials (unless mixed with hazardous chemicals)
  • Pre-packed test kits for medical labs
  • Commercially packaged drugs in solid, final form (tablets, pills) for direct administration
  • Commercial food, drugs, and cosmetics, covered by the FDA
  • Materials to be used within 1-2 days (“working solutions”)
  • Hazardous waste

If you are unsure what to include, please contact EH&S.

How Do I Print Door Hazard Signs?

To print door hazard signs (previously known as placards in CIS):

  1. From the UC Chemicals home page, select Inventory Summary.
  2. Scroll down to the Door Hazard Signs section.
  3. Select the room that you would like to create a door hazard sign for. You will be redirected to the door hazard sign interface.
  4. While viewing the door hazard sign, inventory owners and delegates can edit Emergency Contact information, Additional Hazards or Special Concerns, and Additional Details by clicking the Edit button in the upper right corner of the field.
  5. Print by pressing Ctrl+P (Windows) or Command+P (Mac), or save the sign as a PDF by clicking the 3 ellipses in the upper right corner and selecting Save PDF.
I Work In A Shared Suite. Why Does The Door Sign For My Area Show Hazard That Correspond To Another Group's Hazards?

The inventories are identified by PI/Owner, but the Door Hazard Sign is generated by location. Everyone in that room has potential for exposure to those hazards. Anyone entering the room must be notified of the potential hazards which are present in that room.

How Do I Certify My Chemical Inventory?

After you have ensured that your physical inventory is reflected by the online inventory, select Inventory Summary and select Certify Inventory (or Recertify Inventory).

Note: Only owners and members with “Delegate” or “Lab Manager” status may certify the inventory as accurate.

How Do I See Who Has Access To My Chemical Inventory?

From the UC Chemicals homepage, select Inventory Summary and then select Inventory Access & Permissions. This will display the inventory owner, and the groups, specific members, and colleagues associated with the inventory.

Selecting the pencil icon to the right side of Groups will allow you to add or remove associated groups.

Selecting the pencil icon to the right side of Members will allow you to grant or remove inventory manager privileges for specific members.

Adding colleagues establishes a relationship that allows researchers to search for chemicals within their colleagues' labs and to submit requests to borrow chemicals.

How Do I Add/Remove Groups To My Chemical Inventory?

From the UC Chemicals hompage select Inventory Summary, then select Inventory Access & Permissions. Select the pencil icon on the right of the Groups section, then either search for a Group to add, or click the red "X" next to an existing Group that you want to remove.

How Do I Add/Remove Members For My Lab?

Members of your lab can be managed through the RSS Profile page.

  1. Under Group Memberships, select the Group you want to add a member. 
  2. Select the blue plus sign button in the bottom right to Add Person.
  3. Search for a person by name or UCM email and assign roles/accesses (LHAT, Chemical Inventories, Use Authorizations, etc.) by checking the appropriate boxes. 
  4. You can delete a member by clicking on the exisiting member's name and then selecting the trash can symbol in the upper right (next to the save button).

PIs (Owners) can assign the delegate role to members who can then manage members and accesses on behalf of the PI. 

How Do I Switch Between Chemical Inventories?

Desktop: On the UC Chemicals homepage, select Welcome! to open a drop-down menu of the inventories you are a member of. Select the desired inventory to switch to it.

Mobile: In the Settings tab under General, select Switch Inventory to open a drop-down menu of inventories you are a member of. Select the desired inventory to switch into it.

What Is The "Barcode" Field?

The barcode field is used for entering a barcode sequence from a RFID Tag associated with each container.

Note: This is not the barcode found on the container, these tags can be obtained from EH&S.

Why Do I Need To RFID Tag My Inventory?

RFID tagging allows you to uniquely identify each container in your laboratory. Once completed, inventory reconciliation can be done easily, efficiently, and accurately using an RFID scanner.

Are The RFID Tags Chemical Resistant?

Yes. The materials have been chosen specifically for use in the chemical lab environment.

How Do I Correct A Chemical That Was Incorrectly Added To My Inventory? Do I Need To Delete The Chemical And Re-add It?

You do not need to delete the container and re-add it. The “Reassign” feature allows you to reassign an existing container and its associated information (e.g. container size, open date, etc.) to the correct chemical substance. Select the three-dots to the right of the container in your inventory, then select Reassign.

I Cannot Find My Chemical In The Search Results. How Do I Get The Chemical Added?

Option 1: The chemical may be associated under a different substance name. Select an entry from the search results and scroll down to check the Synonyms and Substances sections. Alternatively, try searching by a different identifier or synonym.

Option 2: If no entry matches your chemical and the substance is commercially available, add the chemical to the UC Chemicals library.

  1. From the UC Chemicals homepage, select Add to Inventory.
  2. Select the three-dot icon, then select  Add Commercial Substance from the drop-down menu.
  3. Fill out as much information as possible for the substance, then select Save.
  4. Please refer to the Add A Chemical to Your Inventory video for more information.

Option 3: If no entry matches your chemical and the substance is a novel compound that is not provided through a chemical manufacturer, add it as a novel compound to the UC Chemicals library.

  1. From the UC Chemicals homepage, select Add to Inventory.
  2. Select the three-dot icon, then select Add Novel Compound from the drop-down menu.
  3. Fill out as much information as possible for the substance, then select Save.
  4. Please refer to the Add a Novel Compound video for more information.
Is There An Easy Way To Add Multiple Containers Of The Same Chemical?

Yes, the Clone feature allows users to quickly add multiple containers of the same chemical.

  1. Add the first container to the inventory. Refer to the Add a Chemical to Your Inventory document or video for more information on how to do this.
  2. Select the three-dot icon to the right of the newly added container to open a drop-down menu.
  3. Select Clone. This will clone all required entries from the first container into the form for the new container addition.
  4. Enter any optional information (ie. barcode, open date, etc.) or make changes to the cloned required entries (ie. container size, sublocation), then select Save when finished.
  5. Repeat the process to clone additional containers of the same chemical.  
I Have A New Building Or Room For My Lab, How Do I Add This?

A PI or Delegate can manage locations for the lab through RSS Profile.

  1. Under Group Memberships, select the Group you wish to add the new location. 
  2. Select Locations on the right, select the blue plus sign in the bottom right. 
  3. Search for the building and room, select the check boxes for which documents you want to associate with this location (chemical inventories, use authorizations, LHAT, etc.), and click Save.
I Can't Find My Building/Room(s) From The Locations Drop-down List. How Do I Add My Building/Room(s)?

A PI or Delegate can manage locations for the lab through RSS Profile.

  1. Under Group Memberships, select the Group you wish to add the new location. 
  2. Select Locations on the right, select the blue plus sign in the bottom right. 
  3. Search for the building and room, select the check boxes for which documents you want to associate with this location (chemical inventories, use authorizations, LHAT, etc.), and click Save.

If your building is not found in the lLocations under RSS Profile, please contact EHS@UCMERCED.EDU for assistance.

Can I Move/Transfer Single Or Multiple Inventories To Another Building/Room(s)?

Individual sublocations can be moved/transferred to another room by editing the sublocation’s building/room (ie. move the flammable cabinet from room A to room B).

  1. From the UC Chemicals homepage, select Inventory Summary, then select Manage Sublocations.
  2. Find the sublocation you wish to move/transfer, select the three-dot icon to the right of the sublocation.
  3. From the drop-down menu, select Edit and change the building/room for the sublocation.

Note: Only building/rooms associated with your lab group are available for selection.

How Can I Edit Or Remove A Sublocation?

Only lab managers, delegates, and PIs can edit, remove, or combine sublocations.

Edit a Sublocation’s Information:

  1. From the UC Chemicals homepage, select Inventory Summary, then select Manage Sublocations
  2. Select the three-dot icon to the right of the sublocation name and from the drop-down menu, select Edit. 
  3. Make any changes to the building/room, name, RFID tag code, temperature, pressure, hazard codes, and public/private status of the sublocation, then select Save.

Remove/Combine a Sublocation:

  1. From the UC Chemicals homepage, select Inventory Summary, then select Manage Sublocations
  2.  Select the three-dot icon to the right of the sublocation name and from the drop-down menu, select Remove.
  3. If the sublocation has containers in it, first select the new building/room and sublocation for these containers.
  4. Select Remove and Move Containers to confirm the deletion of the sublocation.

Move Containers in One Sublocation to a Different Sublocation:

  1. From the UC Chemicals homepage, select Inventory Summary, then select Manage Sublocations
  2.  Select the three-dot icon to the right of the sublocation name and from the drop-down menu, select Move Containers.
  3. Select the new building/room and sublocation for these containers.
  4. Select Move Containers to complete the transfer.
Does The System Support Sharing Of Chemical Containers?

Yes, users can search for chemicals within their colleagues’ and campuses chemical inventories and submit requests to borrow.

You can add colleagues by selecting Inventory Summary, selecting Inventory Access & Permissions, and searching your colleague's inventory under the Colleagues section.

See the Sharing A Container and Borrowing A Chemical training videos for how to share and borrow chemicals.

Can Certain Chemicals Be Marked As Not Shareable So Colleague Labs Cannot See Them When Searching?

Yes, a container can be marked as “private” which prevents viewing of that chemical by any colleague labs. A sub-location can also be marked as “private”.

Making a Container Private:

  1. From the UC Chemicals homepage, select Search Chemicals. Search for and select the chemical you wish to make private.
  2. Under Containers, select the three-dot icon to the right of the container to open a drop-down menu and select Edit.
  3. Under Private Container, select the Yes option to make it private, then click Save.

Making a Sublocation Private:

  1. From the UC Chemicals homepage, select Inventory Summary, then select Manage Sublocations.
  2. Select the three-dot icon to the right of the sublocation name and from the drop-down menu, select Edit. 
  3. Check the box under Private, then select Save.
How Do I Export My Chemical Inventory?

Your UC Chemicals inventory can be exported to an excel file containing all pertinent information that was entered during thier addition to the inventory (e.g. physical state, building/room, sublocation, size, units, etc.).

  1. From the UC Chemicals homepage, select Inventory Summary.
  2. In the Import/Export & Reconcile section, select Export Inventory to begin downloading the Excel file. 
How Do I Add A Mixture/Gas To My Inventory?

For a mixture of chemicals (e.g. a gas mixture), it is important to account for all hazards associated with the mixture. Two-substance mixtures are accounted for through the most hazardous component in the mixture.

  1. From the UC Chemicals homepage, select Add to Inventory, search for and begin adding the container information for the most hazardous chemical component (e.g. 5% Carbon monoxide in Nitrogen is added as Carbon monoxide).
  2. Between “Tags” and “Received Date” enter the numerical Concentration, Concentration Units, and Solvent for the mixture (eg. concentration = 5, units = % wt., solvent = Nitrogen). If the solvent for the mixture is not listed, simply type in the name of the solvent.
  3. Save the container information. Multi-component or mixtures generally require their own entry in the UC Chemicals library and safety data sheet (SDS) since the mixture may pose a new combination of hazards. Please refer to either Add a Chemical to Your Inventory or Add a Novel Compound video tutorials for more information.