A primer for the industry’s most complete and cost-effective SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) tool.
This is the next in a series of blogs focusing on EHS technological advances that are thought and action provoking. Technological progress is exponential in every facet of our lives, at work and at home and this applies to effective Waste Management and Environmental Compliance and Safety at the lab as much as any other industry.
This may not sound very humble, but it is not meant as anything more than a statement of fact: I am often referred to as an industry expert in designing, implementing and supporting Hazardous Waste Management software technologies. I have done it for so long and for so many organizations around the world, including industry leaders, government organizations and even Olympic organizing committees that there may be something to that!
When I founded Chemical Safety Software 27 years ago I had already been in the waste management industry for many years and I had a field level understanding of the tools that both waste generators and waste handlers would need to improve the speed and accuracy of collecting, storing, treating and disposing hazardous waste. I realized earlier than most that collecting, storing and reporting waste data accurately would be of paramount importance – you don’t have to go far beyond Superfund and brownfields to agree that this is indeed the case. But enough about that.
As we monitor inquiries into our EH&S technology website, we see that sizeable percentage of all inquiries focus on waste management related concerns. I can safely say that with our Environmental Management Systems (EMS) EHS software we have created an all-inclusive cradle-to-grave hazardous waste software tool that consistently improves operations and saves our customers time and money.
This is not rocket science, even if when we’re handling spent rocket fuel which NASA, the US Navy, the US Department of Energy and some of our other customers do regularly.
What you need is the ability to record and be able to manage waste within the following parameters:
- What the waste is (Waste Stream and Profile)
- Where was it generated (Generator Location)
- How much is it (Quantity and Unit of Measure)
- How and where must it be stored (Container type and Satellite Accumulation Area)
- How long can it be stored before treatment or disposal (Length of storage depending on permits)
- How and where must it be treated or disposed (treated or disposing onsite, or manifested and disposed offsite)
- To whom and what information related to all of the above must be reported (Management reports, Waste Biennial Reports, SB14 reports)
That’s it! If you have a tool that can help you with the elements listed above, you are holding the key that will help you succeed. Everything else that you have to do is details that fall within one of the seven items listed above. Take a look at our hazardous waste management software page for more information about our EMS software features for managing waste and also view a “how-to” video on Waste management here.
With Chemical Safety’s EMS SaaS (Software-as-a-service) software, your smartphone or tablet become field tools for the collection, storage and consolidation of waste items and lab packs and drums using the device’s camera to read barcodes and easily handle the recording of where the waste is and where it should be. Take a look at https://chemicalsafety.com/ehs-mobile-applications. Data entry is reduced, data accuracy is improved, labels and shipping documents are easy to generate and reports of all kinds, regulatory or corporate, can be generated with a single click.
One last thing, probably the most important: Enterprise-level Software for lab safety is available at a low-monthly cost under the EMS SaaS model, where the cost of acquisition, implementation, scaling and Return-On-Investment (ROI) are manageable and measurable. There are many more benefits that SaaS offers, and I urge you to read my blog entitled 2015’s Most Important EH&S Blog Article.
I welcome your comments.
Tony Diamantidis
tonyd@chemicalsafety.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/tonydiamantidis