ChemSW Releases New Industry White Paper on Best Practices for Fire Code Reporting

07/13/2009

Addressing chemical fire code requirements in the lab satisfies regulations and provides safety for employees, the community and the environment

Fairfield, California, July 14, 2009 – ChemSW, Inc. today announced the release their fifth Best Practices industry white paper, this one detailing best practices that can be leveraged to address fire code reporting.  This latest white paper provides a close look at applicable fire codes, how to identify inventory affected by fire codes, and how to leverage industry best practices for fire code reporting integrity.  The most common points of failure in fire code reporting systems, from the transition of permits to ongoing management and reporting, are examined as well as how to gain control of fire code reporting to readily satisfy regulations. 

“Ensuring safety on site is high on the list of priorities for any organization,” states Jeff Tarter, white paper author, former regulatory agent, and Principal with Integrated Engineering Services.  “No one wants to be the cause of pain and suffering to any employee, visitor, or the surrounding community, and certainly not the environment we are all trying so hard to protect and improve.  But accidents happen every day, many of which are caused by errors or oversights that could easily have prevented the incident. Understanding the ins-and-outs of fire code requirements, and reporting the organization’s compliance efforts, are key means to help ensure that accidents don’t happen.”

The history of regulatory oversight in this area is peppered with new regulations that have driven changes in the lab, hence changes in everything from laboratory building codes to the use, type and amount of chemicals in inventory required for production or research & development (R&D) activities.  Regulations include National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes, International Fire Codes (IFC), OSHA Substance Specific Standards, as well as State Fire Codes, to name a few.  This regulatory oversight is meant to assist organizations in ensuring that their laboratories not only store, handle and dispose of chemicals safely, but also ensure that the buildings where chemicals are kept have safety built in and that the local fire department knows where chemicals are stored so that firemen use the appropriate fire retardant.

“Recently, enforcement efforts have intensified, making report accuracy more important than ever,” Tarter adds.  “Understanding the issues surrounding fire code reporting can go a long way toward maximizing laboratory and overall site safety.”

Titled “Best Practices for Fire Code Reporting,” the white paper examines the role of fire code reporting in laboratory safety regulations, understanding and identifying inventory affected by fire codes, and leveraging industry best practices for fire code reporting integrity.  Why fire code safety and reporting deficiencies occur are explored, and well as how to gain control of fire code reporting, from identifying gaps in the lab’s fire code safety and reporting processes to passing fire code safety and reporting audits.  The Best Practices components of an end-to-end Chemical Inventory System (CIS) for establishing and maintaining information about the chemical safety and reporting chemical inventory are also explored.

This in-depth white paper is free and available for download from ChemSW here.

About Integrated Engineering Services

Incorporated in 1995, Integrated Engineering Services (IES) was established to satisfy industry demands in facility development, process engineering and code compliance. Since inception, the IES team of specialists has been delivering the knowledge and expertise for successful project completion while ensuring compliance with the various regulatory requirements — significantly reducing the plan review and approval cycle.  For more information, visit www.Intengr.com.

About ChemSW

ChemSW is a leading provider of chemical and biochemical inventory management systems, MSDS systems and other chemistry laboratory software and services. ChemSW’s wide range of products enable companies to streamline laboratory processes and reduce chemical purchasing and disposal costs. ChemSW supports over 15,000 customers in more than 40 countries throughout the world.  For more information, visit www.ChemSW.com or call +1 707-864-0845.