In the hazmat world today, most large organizations follow a time-honored process for identifying critical compliance needs and spend the money necessary to make it work. It is a process that tilts the compliance board to the advantage of the bigger players. The challenge today for organizations is to effectively manage their entire chemical inventory such that they can stay in compliance and avoid the dangers, fines and fees associated with not doing so.
It starts with a sophisticated purchasing or procurement system, usually with a module that enables EHS staff to review and approve all incoming hazardous items. Nothing arrives into a big company unnoticed. Next, the chemical or product is tracked through some type of bar code or RFID tagged inventory management system, and data on its location-specific usage is recorded.