|
|
| |
|
|
Integrating
EH&S into the Business Process 
|
Chiron's Chemical Pharmacy Program
Chiron
Corporation is a leading global biotechnology and
pharmaceutical development company. Chiron has worked
closely with Chemical Safety Software over the past five
years to develop a complete program for managing chemical
procurement, use and disposal in conjunction with regulatory
compliance and reporting. Researchers have immediate access
to the chemicals and compounds they need, while inventories
of hazardous and regulated materials are monitored, reduced
and better controlled.
Like many R&D organizations, Chiron's research activities
involve thousands of small quantity compounds that must be
readily available. Over 10,000 unique chemicals in more than
30,000 containers are in use at Chiron's Emeryville
facilities. A pharmacy approach centralizes and streamlines
the chemical distribution process, organizes chemicals by
functional groups, allows for EH&S input and supports the
goal of compliance with environmental health and safety
permit and reporting requirements.
Chemical Safety Software's Environmental Management Systems
(EMS) has helped make Chiron's Pharmacy Program a resounding
success by controlling and dynamically sharing critical
information throughout the supply chain.
Receipt of chemicals is recorded in EMS by
way of an electronic link into Chiron's Purchasing/Receiving
system, and container labels with individual bar codes are
created. As chemists need specific materials for research,
they log into Chiron's own Intranet web-site where they can
check availability of the required substances. If a chemical
was ever ordered by one researcher, but not completely used
up, it can be requested by another chemist using an online
form.
Researchers may then pick up their orders immediately or
have them delivered to a nearby lab staging area within
hours. When chemicals are checked out of the pharmacy,
container labels are scanned, as are bar-codes for the
requesting lab, and the materials are moved to the new
location. In this way materials are tracked throughout the
research facility and inventory records are kept accurate.
Unused amounts of chemicals are returned to the pharmacy's
storage bunkers, where they are scanned and recorded as
available inventory in EMS.
The entire system is run over a secure network and chemists
are given access rights to those substances necessary for
their research. If a chemical is not available in the
pharmacy, a chemist may order it directly from a
pre-approved supplier whose catalog is available on the
pharmacy web-site. Materials receipt information can be
input to EMS through the Purchasing system link, or directly
by one of the preferred chemical suppliers who have
interfaced for this purpose.
All other functionality of EMS works in conjunction with
this program. Inventory is cross-referenced to MSDS and
chemical databases. Federal, state and local compliance
reports as well as user-specified management reports can be
generated easily. Users can search for information based on
name, synonym, CAS#, ingredient, manufacturer, formula,
location and hazard type. MSDS's and chemical inventory
levels can be viewed and reports can be created and printed
by any authorized employee in the plant. Hazardous materials
and waste can be tracked cradle-to-grave, and chemical
usage, along with related costs, can be calculated by
location, lab and chemist.
The program has resulted in lower costs on a number of
fronts. Purchasing and disposal costs have gone down due to
the simplified sharing of materials and information.
Insurance fees were also reduced because stocks of
potentially dangerous materials were lowered.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
