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Chemgold III

Overview

Chemgold II has now been upgraded to Chemgold 111.  Chemgold is a computer based software package that UNE uses to help manage the complex task of storing and using chemicals.

The Chemgold II1 database holds safety, toxicological and physical information on thousands of chemical products such as solvents, paints, glues, thinners, cutting oils/fluids, cleaning chemicals and photographic chemicals etc.

The NSW Occupational Health and Safety Regulation 2001, Chapter 6 on Hazardous Substances, requires that chemical safety information be made available to all users of hazardous substances and dangerous goods, that all vessels containing hazardous substances are labelled appropriately, that each workplace has a list of all hazardous substances used in that workplace and that the risks associated with the use of that substance have been assessed and appropriate controls implemented.

Chemwatch provides

  • General safety information and physical data on a large range of substances and dangerous goods
  • Manufacturers MSDS (and a generic ChemwatchMSDS)
  • A tool to create labels with the legally required safety information for decanted substances
  • A tool to create and store a list of all hazardous substances and dangerous goods for each work area (N.B. UNE currently uses OCID for registers and manifests).

The UNE Hazardous substances policy requires all staff and students to obtain a MSDS and document all risk assessments before using hazardous chemicals. In an emergency these may not be readily available. Staff are therefore advised to make themself familiar with the Chemgold website in case they need to access information during an emergency.

To conduct a simple search using Chemgold III

  1. Follow the link http://jr.chemwatch.net/chemgold3/?X To search for a chemical, enter the name in the search box and click on search to activate the search.
    NB: The search for a chemical can be by its common name, formal name, chemical formula, trade name or manufacturer's name. Enter only a single word if possible and avoid using general terms such as acid.
  2. Searches can also be made by UN number and can be refined by Dangerous Goods (DG) Class.
  3. The search results will generate a Hit List all the substances found along with the number of exact matches found.
  4. By clicking on the chemical name you want, the screen will take you to a brief summary of the chemical substance. To obtain the MSDS you need to look at the four buttons on the left hand side of the screen.
    Click on the MSDS for the chemical substance that matches your Supplier.
  5. To save searching for a substance every time, you can put MSDS into your own folder. Simply place a tick against the required MSDS in the left hand column and then click on the MyMSDS button at the top right hand side of the screen. From there follow the drop down menu and create your own folder.

For Further information, contact the Work Health & Safety Unit, ext. 3232 or e-mail ohs@une.edu.au OR contact your Hazardous Substance Reference Group member.