Australia's Science Forum

macca wrote: ↑13 Oct 2020, 11:20 play around with it

I have been . it's interesting . Not so sure I like the scheduling . LOL , having always had a day book with everything clearly viewable to recently using Sentral Resource booking , This will get a bit of getting used to .

Merilyn1 wrote: ↑13 Oct 2020, 13:18 The labelling function is excellent.

Apart from the DETRA conflicts , absolutely will appreciate this . Just hoping I can find everything . It seems a bit fussy when it comes to how things are spelt .

MariaQ wrote: ↑13 Oct 2020, 13:36 who would blindly follow a document that is so out of date.

Very good question Maria .....but I have to say between all the discrepancies between the various resources .IE Chemwatch , CSIS, Risk Assess and different supplies SDS's , it does make you wonder which is more on the money . I've seen the same molarity solution have differing GHS ratings from Non-Hazardous , Warning to Danger.

I guess we just choose one and hope its right and if the shit hits the fan we say they said it was OK .
I will do as I'm told by my HT .

The best reference is always the suppliers safety data sheet, the problem is, we don't know how to put that into the coloured dot system/user system and it is where we need to rely on other sources for this assistance. I think I've only ever come across one discrepancy between a supplier's SDS and Riskassess and it wasn't significant.

And you are spot on - always refer to your HT for guidance.

MariaQ wrote: ↑13 Oct 2020, 13:36 who would blindly follow a document that is so out of date

I could not agree more - I managed to get it in writing (indirectly) from my HT that he prefers me to follow RiskAssess, especially when it comes to health risks.

I also prefer my old-fashioned diary and prac book for orders and scheduling. Stage 6 Chem teachers are the only ones who order pracs using RiskAssess. Works very well for us.

With the scheduling, I have view laboratory scheduling for 4 weeks up on my screen so I can be organised well in advance. Refresh a couple of times a day.

Hmm , just when I thought Riskassess was making more and more chemicals harder to use , it appears that acids are now not as dangerous as they used to be .
CSIS has 10M HCl as teacher only , now according to Riskassess , 11-12 can use it .

CSIS has 10-18M H2SO4 as teacher only , now according to Riskassess , 11-12 can use it with only 18M still being teacher only.

Waiting for HT to see which way I am meant to proceed when it comes to labeling . Seeing as we are hoping to have all senior pracs done according to Riskassess , I am now in a quandary .
I was hoping that it was going to be easy with RA.

Yes, HCl did change a few years ago. Check also NaOH as these went up (from memory). Best thing you can do, is keep an eye on the classifications as you are pulling out the prac ie compare your current label to what is on the teacher's risk assessment that has been generated on Riskassess.
Something to keep in mind, if seniors are needing to use a concentrate, I will decant into a smaller bottle to reduce the risk rather than giving them the 2.5L bottle.

Merilyn1 wrote: ↑19 Oct 2020, 11:45 Something to keep in mind, if seniors are needing to use a concentrate, I will decant into a smaller bottle to reduce the risk rather than giving them the 2.5L bottle.

That's definitely something I do too Merilyn

Always in the smaller bottles with Sulfuric and Nitric we stick to 6m maximium and HCl I have one teacher we stick to 6m as well, the other teacher 10M either way haven't had any trouble with pracs. working at a lower molarity.

Do need to check as you go Acids may be higher but Sodium Hydroxide is lower levels again I think you'll find 11-12

bigmack wrote: ↑19 Oct 2020, 11:32
Waiting for HT to see which way I am meant to proceed when it comes to labeling . Seeing as we are hoping to have all senior pracs done according to Riskassess , I am now in a quandary .

Well ,as we are DET school, HT has decided that we go with CSIS recommendations regarding DETRA colour dots .She is not happy giving kids access to higher concentrations of acid .
I am just happy that I can at least get the GHS labeling right ....something I could never be sure about with Chemwatch .

No harm in being over cautious, but what does your HT have to say on chemicals that CSIS says is okay for students to use, that Riskassess says something very different?

On a brighter note, the labels are so good. There is now a new feature where you can print multiple labels for different chemicals onto the one page - great idea.

Merilyn1 wrote: ↑21 Oct 2020, 12:58 On a brighter note, the labels are so good. There is now a new feature where you can print multiple labels for different chemicals onto the one page - great idea.

LOL funny you mention that Merilyn .It only happened last week . The day after I first used it . Here I am scratching my head wondering what the new box is that I was sure wasn't there the day before ......then I see the little information update panel .

Yes its a fantastic feature and will save so many wasted labels

Merilyn1 wrote: ↑21 Oct 2020, 12:58 what does your HT have to say on chemicals that CSIS says is okay for students to use, that Riskassess says something very different?

Yet to see what happens there . She was very disillusioned that it didn't align with CSIS and suggested that we won't be paying for it again .I am trying to convince here that I need it and of the time it is saving me already.

Morning everyone,
I have been reading with interest about the conflict between CSIS and RiskAssess. I am of the opinion (not knowing what date CSIS was produced) that Philip Crisp makes his bread and butter from RiskAssess and can't afford to be wrong. Having been one of the people who originally created CSIS I think he would be well aware of changing chemical ratings. I choose to go by RiskAssess. Just a thought...

My HT loves it and I'm pretty happy with it too.
Especially the labels.
I had the same moment of confusion when the extra box appeared....................

I find risk assess to be great when it comes to time and date stamping......no more arguments over who ordered what first. I really like the set up for what experiment is booked when. I personally wouldn't want to go back to writing up all the orders in a book but I do keep copies of every order.Also there is no chance of an order getting "lost".

Loopy wrote: ↑22 Oct 2020, 07:58 Morning everyone,
I have been reading with interest about the conflict between CSIS and RiskAssess. I am of the opinion (not knowing what date CSIS was produced) that Philip Crisp makes his bread and butter from RiskAssess and can't afford to be wrong. Having been one of the people who originally created CSIS I think he would be well aware of changing chemical ratings. I choose to go by RiskAssess. Just a thought...

Couldn't agree more Lou

J , what's Shaun asked you to follow in regards to Chem ratings ? RA or CSIS. ?

Sean is very happy with Riskassess.
To be honest though he probably has no idea about chemical labeling and codes etc.
He lets me run my own race with that.
He travels in the Physics world rather than Chemistry.

So may I ask what have you chosen to do , follow CSIS or RA ratings ?
Not meaning to put you on the spot , just trying to get a feel for what DET schools that use RA are doing .

bigmack wrote: ↑27 Oct 2020, 11:09 So may I ask what have you chosen to do , follow CSIS or RA ratings ?
Not meaning to put you on the spot , just trying to get a feel for what DET schools that use RA are doing .

bigmack, I'm DET and as far as I'm concerned I tend to err on the side of caution!
I haven't been given any direction in anything here, I have just figured everything out myself, which is both good and bad!
I get a lot of info from this invaluable site.
So if RA says a chemical carries more risk than CSIS does then I label it according to RA.

bigmack wrote: ↑27 Oct 2020, 11:09 So may I ask what have you chosen to do , follow CSIS or RA ratings ?
Not meaning to put you on the spot , just trying to get a feel for what DET schools that use RA are doing .

We are a DET school, and we err on the side of caution, following Risk Assess recommendations for chemicals. Just remember, even if CSIS says that students are allowed to use a certain concentration of a chemical it doesn't mean that they HAVE to use it.