UW employees who use chemicals or chemical-containing products at any UW owned or leased facility are required to maintain chemical inventories in MyChem, the UW’s chemical tracking system.
Chemical inventories are linked to a principal investigator (PI) or supervisor, other area contacts, and contain Safety Data Sheets (SDSs). They help the University comply with federal, state and local hazardous material regulations, including Hazardous Material Storage and Use Permits, Hazard Communication, Community Right-To-Know and the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard. MyChem can also be used to:
Click on the MyChem logo and enter your UW NetID and password.
If you do not see your inventory locations when you click on My Inventory, ask your supervisor or others who currently have access to it to add you as a contact to those locations. Use this form if you want to setup a new PI or Responsible Person with a MyChem account.
Go to the MyChem User's Guide on the MyChem website. You can also email mychem@uw.edu or call 206.616.4046. Classroom computer training is available to groups upon request. Please call 206.543.7201 to request classroom training.
If you don’t have a NetID you can get one here. Or call UW-IT Service Center at 206-221-5000.
People working on campus who are not employees (e.g., volunteers, high school students, summer interns) will need to have an UW employee sponsor them to get a NetID. More information on how to sponsor someone is here.
Yes, to access safety data sheets, you must log into MyChem with your UWNetID.
Once a chemical is added to the inventory, you can flag it as surplus and available in the chemical exchange. Search the chemical exchange to find chemicals you need and email the owner to make arrangements to transfer it.
Use the inventory worksheet in the MyChem Guide (accessible in MyChem) to gather information, including chemical name, manufacturer, container type, quantity and physical state.
When adding chemicals to the inventory, begin by searching the database to see if the chemical is already in the MyChem SDS library. If you find the chemical in the search results, select it and finish the entry process. If don’t find the chemical in the search results, click on Chemical Not Found and finish the entry process. If the chemical is not found, please attach an electronic copy of the vendor’s SDS in the entry process.
Review and update inventories and contacts annually and whenever there are significant changes to the inventory.
When adding the chemical to your inventory, select the Browse button to locate the SDS file on your computer and select it. The SDS file is now attached to your chemical inventory and a copy was emailed to EH&S for permanent replacement in the SDS library.
EH&S has a process to flag particularly hazardous substances (PHS) in MyChem. When you view your chemical inventory look for the REG (regulatory) column. You'll find that PHS chemicals are flagged with a “P”. You may also see chemicals flagged with an “E” for an EH&S reportable chemical. EH&S reports these chemicals annually in a Tier II report to the Department of Ecology per the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. Certain chemicals may be flagged with a “B” and that means they are both particularly hazardous and reportable by EH&S.
Review the criteria used by EH&S to designate a chemical as a PHS and learn more about the requirements for working with particularly hazardous substances.
