News and Announcements 2006

ChemTracker operation in Chemistry, Biological Sciences, Chemical Engineering, Physics, Astrophysics, Biomedical Engineering, Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Earth and Environmental Engineering, CISE, Civil Engineering & Engineering Mechanics, and Electrical Engineering groups are launched.

In 6 months since the beginning of implementation in Chemistry, total 7217 chemical containers have been bar-coded, 2940 bar-coded chemical containers were purchased at ChemStores, and 661 empty bar-coded chemical containers were scanned out from the system.

ChemTracker implementation in Architecture department, School of the Arts, and Psychology will start September 2006.

ChemTracker System Demo Invitation:

Now we have the Chemical Tracking System in place for most departments and would like to show you some benefits using the system.

You can check the status of the ChemStore chemicals, Surplus chemicals, and your laboratory inventory, and also you can see the chemical structure in 3D format in just one click.You can get the information through the Columbia secure web site with a few clicks.

If you want to see more advanced information, you need to use the ChemTracker login and password.Your account is already created.

If you want to setup a meeting please call Jean Lee, Director of Information Technology at 4-8883 or send email of your groups’ available day/time to [email protected]. We can visit your area if you have a PC with the internet connection.

You may also come to visit our conference room where we have already setup.We are located in the Mudd building, 3rd floor suite 351 (EH&RS conference room). It will take only 30 minutes for a demo.

If you want to have the session in your area, you need to install the latest Chem 3D Plug-in and the Java plug in before the demo.Please download them from the site below:

Java plug-in-https://chemtracker.stanford.edu/
Chem3D plug-in - https://accounts.cambridgesoft.com/login.cfm?serviceid=5

The Morningside campus was inspected by the New York City Department of Health Bureau for Radiation Control during the week of April 10th. Morningside campus was found to be in compliance with all regulations and received no violations.

ChemTracker pilot implementation began March 6 in Chemistry and April 24 in Biological Sciences and in Chemical Engineering. In seven weeks since the beginning of implementation in Chemistry, 2,895 chemical containers have been bar-coded, 680 bar-coded chemical containers were purchased at ChemStores, and 210 empty bar-coded chemical containers were scanned out from the system.

ChemTracker operation in Biological Sciences and Chemical Engineering launched just last week.All chemicals stocked in the Biology Stockroom have been bar-coded (670 containers); all incoming chemical shipments are bar-coded before being turned over to researchers.ChemTracker implementation in all other departments in the School of Engineering, Physics, and Astrophysics will start sometime next month.

Columbia University Morningside Campus is enhancing its existing service arrangement with Stericycle, Inc. the University’s preferred vendor for regulated medical waste disposal services.

Starting on Tuesday, April 11th, Stericycle, Inc. will be bringing its services directly to your lab. Every Tuesday and Friday between 11am – 2pm Stericycle will be on-site to remove regulated medical waste from your lab. Please help us ensure a smooth transition into this new program by following a few basic instructions:

  1. Lab must ready their medical waste for safe handling and disposal.
    -Labs must tie red bags closed and engage interlocking lid on grey medical waste containers.
    -Snap closed lids on sharps containers.

  2. Lab should roll properly containerized waste on dollies into corridor outside of lab door between 9am and 11am on Tuesdays and Fridays.  Medical waste must not be rolled out on the night prior to service.

  3. Lab should place full sharps containers alongside of or on top of the full, closed grey medical waste containers in the corridor.

  4. Stericycle will replace the grey medical waste containers on a one-for-one, each lined with 1 red bag.

  5. EH&S will provide each lab with a supply of 8-gallon and 2-gallon sharps containers.  Additional containers will be available in the Biology Stockroom and the EH&S Office.

To avoid any problems in service, please take note of the following cell phone numbers that you should use to reach us with any issues if we can’t be reached in the office (212) 854-8749.

Announcement of ChemTracker System (chemical tracking system)

We are pleased to announce the implementation of a chemical tracking system on the Morningside Campus.Columbia University will now be able to comply with recent EPA mandates regarding chemical inventory management and regulatory reporting. These two important goals, compliance with federal, state and city environmental regulations and hazardous waste minimization, will be largely achieved through efficient and appropriate use of this system.

The Columbia University Chemical Tracking System (CTS) Steering Committee, after an extensive review, has selected the ChemTracker Consortium as our CTS tool. Columbia University joins 21 other colleges and universities in the consortium who use this software program that was developed seven years ago at Stanford University.This system resides in Stanford University’s network center, which is accessible to authorized Columbia University personnel via the Internet.This software program was chosen not only for its ease of use and versatility in tracking chemical inventories (our minimum EPA-mandated requirement), but also for its many additional features which offer all of us an excellent scientific resource.In addition, the consortium serves as a forum for the interchange of information and resolution of chemical inventory management issues for the participating institutions.

Chemical tracking will be managed at the point of receipt of chemicals to the campus.Chemical receiving is being centralized in two locations: ChemStores in Chandler, and a new receiving room in Pupin (next to the CEPSR loading dock). Chemical shipments will be bar-coded by dedicated personnel in these two locations. We expect this new activity to introduce little or no delay to the delivery of chemicals to you.One additional and new requirement of the system is that empty chemical bottles will need to be discarded in designated waste receptacles so that bar code information can be retrieved and inventories adjusted accordingly.ChemTracker will allow researchers to monitor their own chemical inventories on-line, if desired.

Pilot implementation of the system will begin the week of March 6, 2006 in Chemistry and will be followed by implementation in Biological Sciences and Chemical Engineering starting sometime in April.

If you have any questions about the system, please feel free to contact Jean Lee, Information Technology Manager at EH&S Office, (212)854-8883 or email to: [email protected] .

Environmental Health & Safety gives many thanks to members of the Steering Committee including the representation from the Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Purchasing.

Special thanks to Chemical Engineering department for serving as a pilot department with previous vendors.