After nearly two years of effort, the campus-wide chemical inventory tagging project is wrapping up—and the results are remarkable. Since February 2024, our partners at Triumvirate Environmental have visited almost every lab and hazardous materials area on campus, placing barcode tags on chemical containers and logging them into the RSS Chemicals database. In total, the team has tagged more than 200,000 containers, creating one of the most comprehensive chemical inventories UC Berkeley has ever had.
Beyond tagging, the project brought several added benefits. Door hazard signs across campus have been updated, and EH&S worked with labs and shops to expedite disposal of unwanted materials—making workspaces safer, cleaner, and more efficient.
We extend our thanks to David Feldtkeller, Patrick Castro, and our other partners at Triumvirate Environmental for their coordination throughout this effort.
As we close the tagging phase, departments can find guidance for maintaining their inventories on the EH&S website. EH&S is also launching a Chemical Inventory Audit Program, with scheduled audits planned for the coming year. Maintaining accurate inventories helps ensure compliance with UCOP-mandated Maximum Allowable Quantities (MAQs) and supports safer buildings campus-wide.
What's next for labs?
Nearly all labs have completed the initial tagging effort! Next steps are to complete a reconciliation of the inventory once you are about a year from the certification date. Here's the process.
- Check certification date on the "Inventory Summary" page in RSS Chemicals.
- Coordinate time to complete a reconciliation if approaching or over a year.
- Request scanners from EH&S to utilize the QR codes on the chemical tags.
- Use this same form if you will need more tags.
- Reconciliation will include scanning the sublocation QR code and each container in it. Repeat until all sublocations and containers are tagged in the inventory.
- Before or during scanning, do a visual assessment and remove any items that are not in use, have expired or the containers are no longer intact.
- Upload the spreadsheet into the RSS Reconciliation location and follow the prompts.
- Confirm any changes and recertify your inventory. Done!
Large inventories may want to repeat this process more frequently.
Questions? Please contact us at cheminv@berkeley.edu.
