Working in university science labs will mean there will be an increased risk of exposure to a variety of chemicals. Working with chemicals can be hazardous and under the Occupational Health and Safety Act workers have restrictions to exposures and specific training requirements. The Chemical Safety Program is designed to give you written information on the policies and procedures to be followed when using hazardous chemicals at Trent University. An online training program is also available on Blackboard under the Science Safety Program course. However the procedures referenced in these documents below constitute the University's accepted procedures for handling chemicals. Always review the Safety Data Sheet of a chemical before using it. The training modules in Blackboard in the Science Safety Course are mandatory but do not include the detailed procedures and SOP's listed below. Users should review all the documentation which may be relevant to the materials and chemicals they are using.
*New* HECHMET Chemical Inventory Program (Sept 2022).
Click Here for a more detailed description: HECHMET
HECHMET Chemical Inventory Program: LOGIN
How to use HECHMET Powerpoint: HECHMETppt
Safety Data Sheet (SDS) Library 
Topics on this page: Chemical Safety Program, Standard Operating Procedures, Designated Substances, WHMIS, Safety Data Sheet Library (Chemwatch), Chemical Waste Disposal, and Old and Unstable Chemicals
Chemical Safety Program
Chemicals Safety Program Overview
Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)
Acquisition of Hazardous Materials in the Sciences
Incompatible Chemical Segregation Table
Standard Operating Procedures
Dangerously Reactive Chemicals SOP (2019)
Poisonous and Corrosive Gases SOP (2019)
Pyrophoric and Water Reactive SOP (2019)
Super Acids and Super Bases SOP (2019)
»Hazardous Materials Identification Guide
Designated Substances Program
»Designated Substances Program Standard Operating Procedure
»Designated Substances Assessment Form
»Designated Substance Control Program
WHMIS
WHMIS has recently been updated from its 1988 version to what is now called WHMIS 2015. This new version has added additional categories of hazards, new and additional pictograms, enhanced information in the Safety Data Sheets (SDS formely known as MSDS) and new labelling requirements.
The WHMIS is currently in a transition stage where it is necessary to retrain all personnel to the new standards and to give sufficient time to update SDS for hazardous material previously purchased prior to the new program. Stocks of Chemicals which currently have the WHMIS 1988 labeling and MSDS documentation will need to be re-labeled with the WHMIS 2015 labels and have their SDS updated to the new format.
Training for WHMIS 2015 can be obtained from the Mandatory Employee Training course on Blackboard which all employees will find in their Blackboard dashboard. Graduate Students who receive Teaching Assistantships (TA) can access the training module through the Graduate Student Mandatory training on Blackboard which is under the MyTrent Portal. Undergraduate students who are a) working in a lab as a research assistant, b) volunteering in a lab or are completing an honours thesis which requires working in a lab also require WHMIS training and can access this by "Self Enrolling" in the Mandatory Employee Training Course on Blackboard.
»University WHMIS Info webpage
»WHMIS 2015 Update and Workplace Label information
Safety Data Sheet Library
The University has purchased an SDS Library known as Chemwatch. Chemwatch is available to all members of the university community and is accessible through any computer on Trent's Network. No username or password is required.
Chemwatch is a searchable database allowing users to download Vendor SDS for specific chemicals or download a more a detailed "Gold" version of the SDS which is a compilation of SDS information into a single document.
Chemwatch can be used by all Trent personnel to complete and maintain their laboratory SDS binders or can be used when researching for a chemical's characteristics. In addition, templates for Workplace Labels have been created for lab personnel to use allowing them to label secondary containers used for decanted, diluted or mixtures of chemicals as required in the WHMIS 2015 regulations. Click on the Icon below to access Chemwatch. General Instructions for use can be downloaded here <instructions>
Chemical Waste Disposal Procedures
The following guidelines are to be followed when disposing of hazardous chemicals. Trent University does not dispose of significant quantities of hazardous chemicals down the drain. Click on building below for the chemical waste procedures for that building.
Old and Unstable Chemicals
Legacy Chemicals are those chemicals that have been purchased in the past and are still in storage. They may or may not have been opened. Like food, many chemicals tend to "go bad" over time. Sometimes that means that they become less "potent" while other times they can become less stable and more reactive. Exposure to a variety of things like water, air or even light can cause some chemicals to become much more hazardous then when they were originally manufactured and purchased. This can cause extremely hazardous situations, especially when unknowledgeable personnel are involved. Most chemicals have expiry dates and any chemical approaching its expiry date should be disposed of through hazardous waste. Chemicals which are significantly past their expiry dates should be assessed for their reactivity and stability before being placed in the hazardous chemical waste rooms. For more information on the stability of chemicals please read the SDS sheet under the section stability and reactivity. Contact Science Facilities for assistance with this.