Chemical Procurement

Summary of Chemical Procurement & Ordering Procedures

All YSU Procurement Services policies & guidelines must be followed in conjunction with the procedures outlined below.

e-procurement (ecube) Procedures

1. All laboratory chemicals in a purchase order requisition shall be allocated to the appropriate account, as required by Procurement Services. Using the proper account code will ensure that orders are routed for chemical hygiene review/approval, which will also help to provide a last line of existing inventory stock-check. Additionally, this allows for verification that the CMC ship-to address has been utilized for maintaining required hazardous chemical inventory, SDS review and recordkeeping.
2. Chemical Hygiene workflow approval for orders containing items under this account will be executed by end of business day, only on Tuesdays and Thursdays of each week (during normal operating schedule), beginning after 3:00PM.
3. Requests for lab chemicals or hazardous materials using any other account code may be flagged by Procurement and held for EHS review.
4. The Chemical Hygiene Officer will determine if there are any applicable regulatory requirements that must be complied with. Additionally, this allows for any newly ordered chemicals to be reviewed for particular hazards, special storage/labeling requirements and engineering/administrative safety controls, when applicable. Finally, this will allow for review & determination if there are any additional or special shipping/delivery conditions that may need coordinated.
5. Requisitioners shall make effort to limit the number of individual requisitions whenever possible. This should be done by coordinating with faculty to plan orders in advance and grouping them together, according to their financial manager’s approval schedule.
6. Please refer to (including but not limited to) Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), OSHA 1910.1450 - Occupational exposure to hazardous chemicals in laboratories, OSHA 1910.1200 - Hazard Communication and OSHA 1910.119 (App. A) - List of Highly Hazardous Chemicals, Toxics and Reactives, Controlled Substances Act - Section 812 and Chemical Diversion & Trafficking Act – List I & II Chemicals for more information regarding regulations pertaining to chemicals and hazardous materials.

shipping/delivery information

1. ​​​All orders containing hazardous laboratory chemicals shall be addressed & shipped directly to the YSU CMC. The CMC shipping address may be selected in the e-procurement system, during the checkout portion of the requisition process.
   1. The following ship-to address must be utilized when placing chemical orders:

Using this address helps to ensure that all hazardous or temperature-sensitive laboratory materials are delivered by the carrier directly to the CMC and will be received promptly, handled, transported and stored properly.

• Orders addressed to the CMC should be accompanied by shipment and tracking notifications, provided by the order owner/requisitioner.
  • Those who are placing orders shipped to the CMC must keep track of their orders, as well as forward any relevant shipping or tracking notifications or information to cmc@ysu.edu.
• Chemical containers shall not be accepted without accompanying labels, safety data sheets (or copy on-file) or other safety information, and packaging in accordance with all appropriate regulations. 
• All chemical shipments should be dated when received and opened.
• Personnel who receive these shipments shall be knowledgeable of the proper procedures for receipt.

Purchasing card (p-card) procurement of chemicals

1. Hazardous chemicals, etc. should not be ordered via credit card. Every effort shall be made to procure such materials via the e-procurement system and requisition process described above.
   1. Hazardous chemicals are defined as any chemical with the following information on the label: Explosive, Flammable, Oxidizer, Corrosive, Poison and with either an NFPA flammability, health or reactivity designation factor above level one. For product/substance classification assistance, please contact the EHS Department.
2. Per Procurement Services Purchasing Card Policy, EHS/Chemical Management, Chemistry, Biology and Physics personnel buyers are exempt from this restriction.
3. Chemicals that must be ordered via p-card either must be ordered by an exempt personnel listed above, or a Procurement Services “Request for Exception” form must be completed and processed.
   1. Justification for p-card purchase of these materials must be provided and approval must be granted by EOHS & Procurement Services prior to order placement.
4. Exempt buyers must also make effort to utilize the procurement system and refrain from using p-card for ordering chemicals, etc. whenever possible, in order to maintain compliance with the University Chemical Hygiene Plan or any other applicable University, State, or Federal environmental, health, or safety program or policy.