New software to reduce waste and improve safety for researchers
The university’s Wellbeing, Safety and Health department has funded a university-wide licence for software to improve chemical and reagent management in laboratories. Cheminventory has been used with great success by some individual research groups plus the School of Chemistry for several years and the new Enterprise licence means it is now accessible to all research groups and teaching labs without an additional cost. The user-friendly software encourages stock sharing, reduces waste and unnecessary purchases, facilitates stocktaking, and improves efficiency.
The cloud-based software can be accessed from any device allowing staff to search instantly for available compounds by name, structure, or CAS number and includes information about a chemical’s known hazards, promoting safe practice in labs.
Research groups can choose which of the chemicals in their inventory to share with other users which reduces the need to make new purchases, particularly when only a tiny amount of a substance might be needed. Currently, many research groups are required to make a minimum order, contributing to large amounts of unused chemicals being stored and numerous unnecessary deliveries. Correct use of this software will support a reduction in Scope 3 carbon emissions and contribute to delivery of our Net Zero+ strategy.
Dr Katie Simmons, a lecturer in the School of Biomedical Sciences, has used the software for some time and said,’ Cheminventory has revolutionised how we track and share chemicals in the School of Chemistry and LICAMM. It is so intuitive to use and the online platform means it can be accessed from anywhere. It has saved so much money and time waiting for chemicals to arrive when another user already has a bottle in the same building! I am looking forward to seeing it rolled out across the whole University.’
Free online training for users will take place via Teams on Thursday 15 Jan and Wednesday 11 March 9:30-10:30am. These sessions will be also be made available as a recording.
For those who require admin access, training will be offered via Teams on Wednesday 14 Jan and Tuesday 10 March 9:30-10:30am. This is required for anyone who will need to run report or add / remove users in their area.
Please sign up for the training through the OD&PL catalogue here.
We use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to guide our activity. Our work on Sustainable Labs is linked to the following SDGs:
- Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
Find out more about our impact on the SDGs
