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Seven-Step Plan to Clean Up
Your Chemical Storage Area
For years you have wanted to clean up and organize
your chemical storage area. But it’s such a huge job,
where do you begin? Our seven-step plan will give
you the direction and guidance you need to get this
job done safely, quickly and efficiently.
Before we begin, some ground rules need to be
established:
• Teachers cleaning up the chemical storage area
should do so in teams. This work should never be
done alone. Students should never be involved.
• Teachers doing this work should be from the school
where the work is being done. The best time to do
this type of work is immediately after school gets
out in the spring.
• Teachers should be hired on an extended contract
during the summer months to undertake this project.
For an average-size school of 1,000 students, it will
take a team of 3–4 teachers two weeks to clean up
the chemical storage area.
• Teachers on an extended contract also should be
covered by the school’s insurance policy in the
unlikely event of an injury.
It’s very important that the teachers be paid for the
work they are about to undertake. This problem of old
chemicals may have existed long before the teachers
started working at the school. Compensation
from the
school district is only fair.
STEP 1: Take an Inventory
The most important step in cleaning up a chemical
storage area is taking an accurate and complete
inventory of every chemical in every chemical storage
area, laboratory and classroom. Without a complete
inventory, you will not be able to proceed to step 2.
Don’t forget to check closets and drawers. Details
on how to take an inventory can be found on pages
1322–1324 of this Flinn Scientific Catalog/Reference
Manual. Please read these instructions carefully!
Critical information will be needed from your
inventory. Most particularly, you will want to know:
(1) the name of the chemical, (2) its shelf location and
(3) the approximate amount of chemical estimated to
be in each container.
The shelf location of each chemical is important
because it is likely that the same chemical will be
found in several locations. Shelf location information
will help you track down and consolidate these
chemicals.
STEP 2: What Chemicals Do You
Really Use?
It is fair to say that 40% of the chemicals you have in
your chemical storage area have not been used in the
last five years and probably won’t be used in the next
five years. Now is the time to decide which chemicals
are really used. Once the inventory is complete, review
your laboratory manuals, textbooks, demonstrations
and science fair projects to decide which chemicals
are used and which chemicals are not.
As you review your inventory, you may discover
an excessive amount of some chemicals. Calculate
what quantities of these chemicals you use every
year and then decide to keep no more than a two- to
five-year supply. Determining how much chemical to
keep will be influenced by two factors: the chemical
shelf life and the hazardous nature of the chemical.
The poorer the shelf life or the more hazardous the
chemical, the less you will want to keep on hand.
Shelf life and hazard information may be found in the
Flinn Scientific Catalog/Reference Manual under each
chemical listing.
If the chemical is not hazardous and has an
indefinite shelf life, keep a four- to five-year supply.
However, if the chemical is hazardous and the shelf
life is poor, keep only a one-year supply on hand. Look
carefully at each bottle, try to determine which bottle
looks the freshest or has the best shelf life and only
keep the amount you really think you need. Let the
shelf life and chemical hazard information found in
the Flinn Scientific Catalog/Reference Manual guide
the way.
STEP 3: Organizing Your
Chemical Storage Area
You now know which chemicals you use, which
chemicals you want to keep and which chemicals
you don’t want. Let’s now physically move all of
the chemicals in the chemical storage area (and
anywhere else you found chemicals) out into the
laboratory area and onto the lab benches. (The
laboratory next to the chemical storage area works
best.) The right side of the laboratory will become an
area for chemicals you either no longer use or have
in excessive amounts and would like to dispose of.
The left side of the laboratory will be chemicals you
want to keep. It’s important that only authorized
people working on this project be allowed to enter
this room. Administrators, maintenance people and
others must not be allowed into this laboratory area
unless they are accompanied by one of the teachers
involved in the clean-up project. This laboratory
should be locked when not in use. If you discover
chemicals that you feel uncomfortable moving or
handling, please call Flinn Scientific for further advice.
STEP 4: Bag and Can
Dangerous Chemicals or
Practice “Devil Control”
There are certain chemicals found on school premises
that Flinn Scientific considers to be “devils.” A “devil” is
any chemical that has a severe hazard alert. Severely
poisonous, severely toxic, severely flammable,
severely corrosive, strong oxidizer, carcinogen or
strong stench are all characteristics that may qualify
a chemical as a “devil.”
To practice “devil control,” purchase some clear,
heavyweight plastic bags with twist ties, cat litter and
a selection of clean (empty) quart and gallon paint
cans.
The first step in practicing “devil control”
is to place
each chemical container considered to be a “devil”
into a clear plastic bag. Secure the bag with a twist
tie. Should the bottle break, the spill will be contained
in the plastic bag.
Once the chemical bottle is in the plastic bag,
spread a thin layer of cat litter in the bottom of a
paint can, place the sealed bag with the chemical
container into the paint can and fill the remaining
portion of the can with cat litter. Place the lid on the
paint can and label the can clearly with the chemical
SEVEN-STEP PLAN continued on next page.