Chemical inventory and exposure log

General requirements for safety data sheets and information sheets:

• Must be written in Norwegian.
• Must have a revision date indicated.
• Must be available in electronic version at the location in the chemical registry where hazardous chemicals, substances, and/or biological agents are handled.
• Must be prepared in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2020/878. In practice, this means that safety data sheets with a revision date before 01.01.2023 are not accepted.

Information sheets must be designed in accordance with the Working Environment Act § 2-1.

HSE Manager

• Must ensure that all employees and students know how to access the chemical registry and how to use it.
• Has overall responsibility for ensuring that knowledge about the chemicals is collected and made available, and that established routines are followed.
• Shall ensure that a register is kept over employees who are or may be exposed to hazardous substances.

Employees and students

Employees and students who handle chemicals must:

• Familiarize themselves with the chemical inventory so they know how to quickly find the information they need.
• Complete any necessary training required by UiA.
• Follow internal routines and report if they find that the chemical inventory is not updated or if information is missing.
• Participate in the registration of exposures to hazardous substances, see section 10.

Employees who procure or change the location of substances must update the chemical inventory

HSE Advisor at UiA

• Responsible for the chemical inventory.

Employees who procure or produce chemicals at UiA are responsible for registering them in the correct location within UiA’s chemical inventory, and for conducting a risk assessment for use, storage, and disposal prior to purchase or production.

You can find training videos and guides on how to add substances and perform risk assessments for storage on the ‘Home’ screen of the chemical registry. If you need support using the chemical inventory, please contact the person responsible for your location.

For the information in the chemical inventory to be usable and understood, affected employees and students must be given training on the purpose, content, and applications of the chemical inventory. The training shall ensure that employees and students who work with chemicals:

• Are able to find the information they need in the chemical inventory.
• Know and understand the content of each safety data sheet and/or information sheet.
• Use the information, especially information about precautionary measures.

All users of the chemical inventory are encouraged to complete the training modules in Workplace Safety that are relevant to their use of the chemical inventory.

Risk assessment in Workplace Safety is most suitable for risk assessment of chemical storage.

The workflow selects relevant information about the chemical's inherent hazards found in the safety data sheet, and the exposure potential during chemical storage. After completing the assessment, the risk will be illustrated with a risk score from 1 to 5 for the areas of health, safety, and environment.

For risk assessment of work activities, please refer to the guidelines for chemicals, guidelines for gas, and guidelines for biological agents (in Norwegian only)

Carrying out a substitution assessment is a central part of systematic HSE work. The purpose of the substitution obligation is to reduce the risk of health and environmental damage by replacing hazardous chemicals with less harmful alternatives.

The requirement for substitution exists both in national laws such as the Product Control Act and the Working Environment Act, as well as in the European chemicals regulation REACH.

The chemical inventory in Workplace Safety is integrated with relevant hazard lists and automatically provides warnings for substances registered on the following hazard lists:

• The Candidate List in REACH (Substances of Very High Concern, SVHC)
• The Authorization List (REACH XIV)
• The Restriction List (REACH XVII)
• The Norwegian Priority List
• The Prohibition List (Regulation on the Execution of Work, §3-19)
• The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons (Lists 1, 2, and 3)
• Peroxide-forming chemicals
• Regulation on Precursors for Explosives (DSB)

Substances on other restriction lists must be checked manually for substitution.

Responsible managers have an obligation to inform about routines for registration in the exposure register.

If you at UiA are exposed to:

• Lead, carcinogenic chemicals, and chemicals harmful to genetic material,
• Dust containing asbestos fibers,
• Biological factors,
• Ionizing radiation, or
• Hazardous substances in mining work,

there is a requirement to register the exposure in the exposure register so that it is documented if it later leads to illness or injury. Substances falling under the first bullet point are marked with a red star in the chemical inventory. The exposure register enables documentation of exposure that may entitle compensation for occupational diseases.

The exposure register is integrated into the chemical inventory. Substances requiring exposure registration are marked with a red star in the chemical inventory.

Registration of exposure

There is a very low threshold for registering exposure in the exposure register. All work where exposure cannot be excluded must be registered. This also includes work at fume hoods or under ventilators. The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) during work should not be considered when assessing exposures, even when correct and consistent use of appropriate PPE provides satisfactory protection.

If others nearby may have been exposed, they must be notified immediately so they can be registered in the exposure register.

Exposure of larger groups or periodic exposure

In cases where exposure is repetitive, much of the registration work can be streamlined by setting up pre-filled exposure records for a period. It is also possible to register exposure on behalf of others. The person being registered will receive an email about this, which they can then confirm or deny.

See also the Guide for registering exposure to hazardous chemicals (in Norwegian only)

Registration in the exposure register may trigger the requirement for regular health checks, depending on the type of exposure. This is to ensure that any health problems are detected early and to protect workers' health in the long term.

Administrators in the chemical inventory can generate reports of registered exposures in the chemical inventory.

Health checks are ordered through the occupational health service.

If you want to establish a new location (for example, a new room) or make changes to an existing one, please contact:

• Thor Mo if you belong to the Kristiansand campus
• Odin Kvam if you belong to the Grimstad campus
• Janne Ommundsen, HSE Advisor, Personnel and Organization Department