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Managing Hazardous Materials with ARCHIBUS Applications

Hazardous materials are solids, liquids, and gases whose properties are dangerous or potentially harmful to human health, other living organisms, property, or the environment. Hazardous materials are radioactive, flammable, explosive, corrosive, oxidizing, asphyxiating, bio-hazardous, toxic, pathogenic, or allergenic.

Multiple ARCHIBUS applications handle or reference the management of hazardous materials. Each of these applications deal with different aspects of hazardous materials.

Waste Management pertains to legal and safe disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous materials that usually are the result of business operations at a site. The primary concern with respect to hazardous waste is to automate a process that is in compliance with regulations.
Clean Building manages all aspects of projects for locating, identifying, and abating hazardous materials that may be present in the environment as a matter of history (asbestos or lead paint used in older construction), accident (a toxic spill, or a water leak that lead to mold growth), or nature (radon). The primary concerns are determining whether hazardous material is present, where does it exist, and how do we respond.
Environmental Sustainability provides tools for an initial survey to assess the existence of all types of environmental influences that may exist in or around a facility and then roughly ranking them by priority for remediation. These conditions include energy usage, emissions, solid waste, hazardous waste, chemicals, water usage, indoor air quality, recyclables, and natural resources that can be conserved.
Emergency Preparedness helps facility and operations staff prepare for workplace emergencies, such as blizzards, floods, chemical spills, gas leaks, and other threats, by providing tools to coordinate first responders, staff, the assessment team, and management. As far as hazardous material management, this application provides quick access to information about the location hazardous materials stored on site -- immeasurably valuable when responding to a workplace emergency. In addition to the location of hazardous materials, the application tracks equipment locations, egress plans, and zones for fire, smoke, HVAC, and security, all of which are helpful to a first responders and other staff when addressing an emergency.

Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) automates the maintenance of required safety documentation for hazardous substances intentionally stored and used within a facility. The primary concern is to provide critical information to users and emergency response teams concerning material quantities, locations within a floor plan, risk levels, and all the safe handling information provided by chemical manufacturers.