Opperating Guidlines

Chemical Stockroom - Bemidji State University

Services

Here is what we can do for you... tell us what you need.

Need technical or safety information on chemicals? Contact us. We have access to a great deal of safety information. We can also assist in interpreting safety data. Let us know. We are your point of contact for this information.
Need a chemical for research or teaching? We have a selection of many common chemicals. We can also arrange to order and safely store special chemicals.
Need glassware, equipment or instrumentation for research or teaching? We will gladly provide you with items to safely handle chemicals. Please let us know what you would like. We can arrange to acquire assets that you might find useful.
Need a chemical demonstration for class? Contact us. We can help you develop a safe informative chemical demonstration. We can prepare it for you or, with prior arrangement, assign one of our staff to assist you in carrying out the demonstration.
Need assistance with chemical preparation for a lab? Talk to us, our priority is to the Chemistry Department, but if you give us enough notice we would be happy to lend a hand.
Need to dispose of a chemical waste? We can help you with this. All we need is an appropriate container, with a completed hazardous waste label and we will gladly process this for you, as long as it was generated by an approved University function.

We have a big job to do and we need your cooperation, so here is what our staff will not do...

We will not do your dishes. We hand out clean glassware, we expect to get clean glassware back.
We will not provide chemicals for private use. We provide our resources for University approved research and teaching purposes only.
We will not dispose of personal chemical waste. This is a costly affair and we can only provide for the disposal of waste generated for a University approved activity.
We will not accept unlabeled chemical waste. The generator of the waste is responsible for the proper labeling of the waste. However, we will assist you in going through the proper procedures in labeling and processing unknown waste. We can also consult with you in determining how to process chemicals so that they are environmentally safe and disposable. This must occur prior to placing the material in a waste container. Once waste has been submitted to us as such, we cannot process it ourselves, it must then be submitted for disposal. Consult with us on how to reduce the amount of chemical waste you generate.
We will not clean up your messes. Ultimately, you are responsible for the care of the facilities, supplies, equipment and instrumentation that you use. We will work with you and provide support (even some elbow grease) but don’t take it for granted.
Unlabeled hazardous waste stored in labs will be reported to the Health and Safety Officer of the University. Remember the waste must be staged for removal within 10 days of its generation.