Chemical Safety
This answer was updated in September 2018 to include links to the Science ASSIST Chemical Management Handbook – Edition 2.
This is a very good question as it is vital that chemicals should be segregated from incompatible chemicals within the chemical store. We address the issue of chemical storage in our chemical management handbook, which can be found here.
There are also other sources of information that we can recommend that will provide a good foundation for safe storage of chemicals in school science laboratory chemical stores. Segregation of incompatible chemicals can be based upon the Australian Dangerous Goods Code (ADG Code) Classification for road transport. However, it is important to be aware that there can be incompatibilities within a Dangerous Goods Class and where a chemical falls into more than one class.
The following helpful information is sourced from educational sectors. Although written for specific jurisdictions, they contain excellent general guidance information, see:
Victoria
- http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/management/Pages/chemica... Chemical management in particular links to
- www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/principals/management/guid1chemst.docx (Guidance Sheet 1 chemical storage)
- www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/principals/management/guid2danger.docx (Guidance Sheet 2 Dangerous goods classification system)
Queensland
- https://education.qld.gov.au/initiatives-and-strategies/health-and-wellbeing/workplaces/safety/hazards (link updated June 2019) Chemicals and hazardous substances, in particular links to
- http://ppr.det.qld.gov.au/corp/hr/workplace/Pages/Managing-Risks-with-Chemicals-in-Department-of-Education,-Training-and-Employment-%28DETE%29-Workplaces.aspx Managing Risks with Chemicals in Department of Education, Training and Employment (DETE) Workplaces
- https://mpe.education.qld.gov.au/initiativesstrategies/Documents/guideli... Chapter 4 has information on working with chemicals including storage and handling (4.2); separation and segregation (4.4) and appendix 4d has a chemical segregation advisory guide (Link Updated May 2021)
If a school uses a chemical management system such as ChemWatch or ChemAlert for compiling their chemical register, the system may indicate if a chemical is being stored with an incompatible chemical.
Science ASSIST has also answered a number of questions regarding chemical store and chemical storage, as well as producing an information sheet with related links, see AIS: Links — Chemical sciences safety
Previous related questions include:
- Chemical Registers
- Chemical Storage
- Chemical Storage Timeframes
- Chemical stores legislations and requirements
- Storing Magnesium ribbon
References:
‘Chemical management’, Victorian Department of Education and Training website, http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/management/Pages/chemica... (Updated June 2017)
‘Chemicals and hazardous substances’, Qld Department of Education website, https://education.qld.gov.au/initiatives-and-strategies/health-and-wellbeing/workplaces/safety/hazards (Link updated June 2019)