Status: COMPLETED August 2010 - December 2010
At McGill, thousands of hazardous materials (chemicals, biohazards and radioisotopes) are used by over 800 laboratories for teaching and research purposes. Under federal and provincial legislation, the University has the obligation to account for all of its hazardous materials and maintain up‐to‐date material safety data sheets (MSDS) for each one of them.
Currently, this responsibility is delegated to individual laboratories, which has resulted in de‐centralize inventories and the multiplication of identical MSDS documents. It is within this context that a Hazardous Materials Management Project (HMMS) was launch in late 2009 with sponsorship from Dr. Rima Rozen (Interim Vice‐Principal Research & International Relations) and Prof. Jim Nicell (Associate Vice‐Principal University Services). The goal of this IT project is to facilitate the management of hazardous materials at the University.
More specifically, we are proposing that hazardous chemicals disposal events be scheduled in buildings housing laboratories. On the scheduled date, McGill Waste Management Program (WMP) will set‐up a chemicals collection site in the building and laboratories will be asked to transport their unwanted chemicals there. WMP technicians will then package the chemicals for subsequent transport and disposal. Laboratories will be asked submit a list of chemicals to be discarded prior to their building disposal date. This will allow WMP to effectively allocate resources and materials for each event, thus minimizing the disposal costs.
We are also proposing that a test pilot be first held, this will allow for implementation of modifications to the campaign if required before roll‐in out to the rest of the University. Dr. Audrey Moores, Chair of the Chemistry and Pulp and Paper Institute Safety Committee, has graciously accepted that her department be the test pilot department.
For further information conerning this project, or to get in touch with its members, please contact the krista.houser [at] mcgill.ca (SPF Administration Team).
