Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chemical Purchasing
Procedures
Prepared by: The Dangerous Goods Management Team (DGMT)
Owned by: Health, Safety and Environment Office
Date: 31-5-2016
Version: 1
Revision History
Revision Date
Description
Sections
Affected
Revised
By
Approved By
Page 1 of 21
Content
1.
Preamble
Page 3
2.
Introduction
Page 3
3.
Page 3
4.
Page 4
5.
Page 5
6.
Page 6
Page 7
8.
Page 7
9.
Page 8
HKD$10,000)
10.
Purchase requisition
Page 9
11.
Page 10
12.
Receipt of chemicals
Page 10
13.
Page 11
14.
Chemical inventory
Page 11
Page 13
Page 14
Page 16
Page 18
Page 19
Appendix 4 The flow chart for the central chemical purchasing procedures
Page 20
Appendix 5 The flow chart for the procedures of bulk purchase arrangement
Page 21
Page 2 of 21
Preamble
1.1 The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has been in its new era
with a vision to excel in professional education, applied research and
partnership for the betterment of Hong Kong. Cross-disciplinary research
projects are prevalent and many of them involve the use of chemicals. Safe
handling of chemical procurements in compliance with relevant regulations is
crucial to protect our students and staff in the course of their learning and
research works.
1.2 To better control and monitor the purchase and storage of chemicals on
campus, the Academic Council recommended PolyU to set up a central
database and procurement system for hazardous chemicals and controlled
substances to be purchased, stored, handled and disposed of within PolyU.
Health, Safety and Environment Office (HSEO) takes up the role to plan and
establish a Dangerous Goods Management Team (DGMT) for executing this
management decision.
2
Introduction
2.1 Upon the establishment of the DGMT under HSEO on 1 March 2016, this
manual is written to highlight the principles and procedures of the central
chemical purchasing arrangements, delineate the roles and responsibilities of
various parties (including the Heads of Department, Director of Research
Centre, Principle Investigators, registered purchasing delegates and the
DGMT), and detail the procedures of making purchase request to the DGMT
for acquiring hazardous chemicals and controlled substances yet ensuring
compliance with relevant local regulations.
2.2 This manual should be read in conjunction with the Health and Safety
Guide prepared by HSEO and the Manual of Purchasing Procedures prepared
by Finance Office (FO) of the University.
3
3.1 As mentioned in Paragraph 1.2 of this manual, the DGMT was formed
to serve all chemical-using departments by using a life-cycle management
concept. The DGMT is tasked to vet and/or place orders of chemicals upon
Manual of Central Chemical Purchasing Procedures v.1
Page 3 of 21
receiving requests from the chemical users. Besides, the DGMT would receive
chemicals from the suppliers on behalf of the chemical users, register the
incoming chemicals to a central chemical inventory database, label the
chemicals with a unique code for identification of the chemicals, deliver the
chemicals to the users (except the case where a Purchase Requisition is placed
by the user department that will be explained in Paragraph 10 below), and
arrange disposal of chemical wastes produced on campus.
4
Page 4 of 21
145
Cap 295: Dangerous Goods Ordinance
295
Cap 303: Radiation Ordinance
303
Cap 403: Ozone Layer Protection Ordinance
403
Cap 578: Chemical Weapons (Convention) Ordinance
578 ()
Cap 595: Hazardous Chemicals Control Ordinance
595
Page 5 of 21
Maximum number of
registered purchasing
delegates could be appointed
HoD or DoRC
10
Table 1.
5.3 HoD, DoRC or the PIs shall appoint the purchasing delegate(s) of their
departments or research groups by submitting a Consent Letter (Appendix 1)
to the DGMT. Training and demonstration of the purchasing procedures under
this manual will be provided to all purchasing delegates by the DGMT.
Purchasing delegate, who has successfully completed the training and the
post-training test, would be registered by the DGMT and become eligible for
making chemical purchase request. The validity of registration lasts for 2 years.
Registered purchasing delegates would be required to attend refreshers
training and pass the test when his/her registration is due in order to maintain
their eligibility to purchase chemicals through the DGMT.
5.4 The HoD, DoRC or PI shall update the DGMT and re-appoint new
purchasing delegate(s), through the procedures highlighted in Paragraph 5.3
above, if his/her purchasing delegate is no longer serving the department /
research team or if the purchasing delegate of his/her team wishes to opt out
of the program.
6
6.1 The HoD, DoRC and PIs shall be responsible on health and safety issues
that may be arising from their daily operations or research activities. Besides,
they should be accountable for any breaches of local regulations on the control
of purchase, use, storage and disposal of any hazardous chemicals or
controlled substances.
6.2 The HoD, DoRC or PIs shall only initiate procurement of hazardous
chemicals on his/her own or via the registered purchasing delegates for their
department or research teams, and make sure that all activities are complying
Manual of Central Chemical Purchasing Procedures v.1
Page 6 of 21
with relevant local regulations. In this connection, the HoD, DoRC and PIs shall
ensure that all the chemical purchases carried out by their registered
purchasing delegates are fully authorized by them. Besides, the HoD, DoRC
and PIs should make sure that they have the sufficient funding for settling the
payment.
7
7.1 Since the registered purchasing delegates are appointed and fully
authorized by respective HoD, DoRC or PIs, they should make sure that the
respectively HoD, DoRC or PIs is well aware of any hazardous chemicals or
controlled substances to be purchased before sending the requests to the
DGMT.
7.2 To initiate the chemical procurement process, the registered purchasing
delegates shall collect quotations obtained by his/her research team and fill in
the Chemical Ordering Form (Appendix 2). He/She should send the quotations
and the Chemical Ordering Form to the DGMT using his/her PolyU email. The
DGMT would conduct legal compliance vetting for all chemical purchases and
carry out direct purchase on behalf of the users for any purchase with the
value up to HKD$10,000 pertaining to the prevailing procurement policy.
7.3 For any purchase with value above HKD$10,000 or containing controlled
substances, the delegate shall send the quotations with all related information
(including the necessary license as appropriate) about the chemicals to the
DGMT for vetting and approval prior to initiating a Purchase Requisition (PR)
via the Oracle Financials System. The delegate shall attach a written approval
from the DGMT, together with the quotations and all necessary documents,
when he/she generates a PR through the Oracle Financials System for FO to
proceed with the Purchase Order (PO).
8
Page 7 of 21
DGMT will also assist individual departments to sort out a list of items, nonhazardous chemicals or reagents (e.g. domestic detergents and disinfectants,
saline, glucose, culture media, enzyme, and protein etc.) that could be directly
purchased by the requesting department in accordance with the prevailing
policy of FO.
8.2 The DGMT will be responsible for placing chemical orders, receiving
chemicals from suppliers, registering chemicals to a central inventory
database and delivering the chemicals to the laboratory of users. The DGMT
will provide the user departments with an updated inventory list on regular
basis to minimize their efforts to take stock. An up-to-date chemical inventory
for each research group and department would be maintained by the DGMT.
8.3 The DGMT will also coordinate bulk purchase of chemicals (e.g. for
teaching activities or commonly used solvents/chemicals) among all chemicalusing departments to guarantee the best offer could be obtained, at the same
time, to reduce the administrative workload of involved parties.
9
Direct purchase of chemicals by the DGMT (for order with value up to
HKD$10,000)
9.1 Upon instructed by the HoD, DoRC or PI, the registered purchasing
delegate shall obtain and forward the quotations of chemicals to be purchased,
as well as a copy of license (if applicable), to the DGMT (via email address:
chemical.safety@polyu.edu.hk) for compliance vetting. The registered
purchasing delegate shall provide the following details and information of
chemicals to be purchased in the Chemical Ordering Form (Appendix 2) for the
DGMT to process further:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Page 8 of 21
o Units
o Quantity
o Remarks of any special requirements
9.2 The DGMT would place order directly to the supplier if there is no legal
implications or safety concerns on such request. If necessary, the DGMT would
advise the users on the requirement and procedures for applying relevant
license before placing order.
9.3 After placing order directly to the supplier, the DGMT would inform the
registered purchasing delegate and confirm the status of the order through
email. All chemicals will be delivered to the Central Chemical Handling Depot
of the DGMT (vide Paragraph 12) and received by the DGMT. The DGMT will
deliver the chemicals to the delivery address indicated on the Chemical
Ordering Form (Appendix 2) (vide Paragraph 13).
10
Page 9 of 21
10.2 Upon receipt of approval from the DGMT, the delegate shall attach the
written approval, together with the quotations, in the Oracle Financials
System while generating a PR in accordance with the Manual of Purchasing
Procedures of FO. If the chemical is defined as controlled substance, the user
shall obtain the required license and send a copy to the DGMT for record and
further process.
10.3 FO would process and issue a PO to the supplier and make copy to the
DGMT for record.
10.4 All the chemicals ordered through the means of PO by the user
department will be delivered by supplier to the location designated by the user
department or the license holder instead of to the Central Chemical Handling
Depot. The user department or the license holder is responsible to notify the
DGMT for registration when the chemicals are received (vide Paragraph 12).
The registered purchasing delegates may also request deposition of chemicals
to the DG stores managed by the DGMT if necessary.
11
11.1 The DGMT will call return from the authorized users and registered
purchasing delegates on their estimated quantity of commonly used chemicals
they needed for one academic year and consolidate a list of chemicals with
respect to the specifications from users. Based on the list, the DGMT will call
a tender and arrange bulk purchase to guarantee the best offer could be
obtained. A workflow summary of bulk purchase arrangement is shown in
Appendix 4.
11.2 Solvents will be received and kept in the DG Stores. Users have to
retrieve the solvents by sending a requisition to the DGMT stating the quantity
and the delivery address, and the DGMT shall deliver the chemicals within two
working days.
12
Receipt of chemicals
Page 10 of 21
12.1 All the chemicals ordered through the means of direct purchase and
bulk purchase by the DGMT will be delivered to the Central Chemical Handling
Depot for unpacking, checking, registration and labeling by the DGMT. Freezer,
refrigerator and desiccator would be available in the Central Chemical
Handling Depot for temporary storage of chemicals that are unstable under
ambient conditions.
12.2 When the chemicals are delivered to the Central Chemical Handling
Depot, a unique code, bearing the information of the requesting department,
name of PI and owner etc., would be assigned. The code label would be affixed
to the container of the chemicals before dispatching to the laboratory of
authorized user or registered purchasing delegate with an original copy of the
invoice and a duplicate.
12.3 All the chemicals ordered by the user department through the Oracle
Financials System shall be delivered by supplier to the location designated by
the user department or the license holder. When the chemicals are received,
the user department or the license holder shall complete the goods receipt
steps in accordance with the prevailing procedures of Oracle Financials System
and notify the DGMT. The DGMT would send out the labels to the user for
them to affix to the individual containers.
13
13.1 The chemicals, ordered through the means of direct purchase by the
DGMT, will be delivered to the delivery address assigned by the registered
purchasing delegate by the staff of DGMT upon completion of the registration
process of the chemicals in the Central Chemical Handling Depot.
13.2 The laboratory user at the delivery address shall sign on the duplicate of
the invoice to acknowledge receipt of chemicals from the DGMT and settle
payment with the original copy of the invoice. Only chemical invoices bearing
a stamp (as shown in Appendix 3) and the authorized signature of the DGMT
would be entertained and processed by FO.
14
Chemical inventory
Page 11 of 21
Inventory record will be updated by the DGMT after dispatching the chemicals.
Information to be updated in the central inventory would comprise of the
following elements:
Page 12 of 21
Note 1: Hazardous Chemicals are defined as chemcialschemicals that CARRY hazard symbol(s) as
defined under the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).
Figure 1. Hazard symbols under the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and
Labeling of Chemicals by United Nations.
Page 13 of 21
Note 2: The commonly used gases refer to the gases with exemption quantity as list in Table 2.
Procurement of gases that have No exemption quantity shall be endorsed by the DGMT.
Gas
2 cylinders
Argon
1 cylinder
Boron Trifluoride
No exemption quantity
Carbon Monoxide
No exemption quantity
Coal Gas
No exemption quantity
Fluorine
No exemption quantity
Helium
1 cylinder
Hydrogen
1 cylinder
Krypton
1 cylinder
Methane
1 cylinder
Neon
1 cylinder
Nitrogen
1 cylinder
Oxygen
2 cylinders
Class 2-Liquefied gases
Air, liquid
25 L
Ammonia, Anhydrous
1 cylinder
Boron Trichloride
No exemption quantity
Butadiene
1 cylinder
Carbon Dioxide
1 cylinder
(unlimited when intended for use
with fire extinguishers)
Chlorine
No exemption quantity
2 cylinders
Cyanogen
No exemption quantity
Cyclopropane
1 cylinder
2 cylinders
Dichlorodifluoromethane/Trichlorofluoromethane
Mixtures (Arcton 12/11, Freon 12/11)
2 cylinders
2 cylinders
No exemption quantity
Dimethylamine
No exemption quantity
Page 14 of 21
Ethane
No exemption quantity
Ethyl Chloride
1 cylinder or 10 kg
Ethylene
1 cylinder
Ethylene Oxide
1 cylinder or 10 kg
Ethylene Oxide
(in a concentration not greater than 12%
by weight) mixed with an inactive carrier
gas (such as dichlorodifluoromethane)
No exemption quantity
No exemption quantity
No exemption quantity
No exemption quantity
No exemption quantity
Methyl Bromide
1 cylinder or 25 kg
Methyl Chloride
1 cylinder
No exemption quantity
Nitrogen (liquid)
2 cylinders
No exemption quantity
Nitrosyl Chloride
No exemption quantity
Nitrous Oxide
2 cylinders
Oxygen, Liquid
10 L
Phosgene
No exemption quantity
Propylene
1 cylinder
Sulphur Dioxide
1 cylinder or 25 kg
2 cylinders
Trimethylamine
No exemption quantity
No exemption quantity
2 cylinders
Table 2. Exemption quantity of different gases stated in the Chapter 295B and Regulation 74 of Dangerous
Good (General) Regulations.
Page 15 of 21
Appendix 1
Title:
Faculty:
Department /
Centre:
Staff ID:
Email address:
Telephone:
Office address:
1.
I hereby appoint the staff(s) / postgraduate student(s) listed in the attachment on Page 2, to handle
all purchasing issues, including obtaining quotations, applying relevant license and raising purchase requests
to the DGMT on my behalf and / or for my research team.
2.
I understand that I undertake the ultimate responsibility for his/ her purchase requests.
3.
I understand that I may subject to disciplinary and legal action should we fail to take precautions for
any violations of the chemical purchase procedures and / or illegal chemical purchase.
___________________________________
Signature of HoD, DoRC or PI*
___________________________________
Date of Signature
___________________________________
Approved by
(To
be filled by the DGMT)
___________________________________
Date of Approval
(To
be filled by the DGMT)
* HoD denotes Head of Department; DoRC donotes Director of Research Centres; PI denotes Principle Investigations including
Professors, Associate Professors, Assistant Professors and Research Associates etc.
DGM T Form 01 (Rev.1/2016)
Page 1 of 2
Page 16 of 21
______________________________________
Signature of PI
______________________________________
Approved by (To be filled by DGMT)
______________________________________
Date of Signature
______________________________________
Date of Approval (To be filled by DGMT)
* HoD denotes Head of Department; DoRC donotes Director of Research Centres; PI denotes Principle Investigations including Professors, Associate
Professors, Assistant Professors and Research Associates etc.
DGM T Form 01 (Rev.1/2016)
Page 2 of 2
Page 17 of 21
Appendix 2
Table 3.
060416
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Mr.
Delegate
Delegate
Delegate
Delegate
Delegate
Delegate
Delegate
35170
ABCT
35170
ABCT
35170
ABCT
35170
ABCT
35170 Food Centre
35170 Food Centre
35170 Food Centre
Dr. ABC
Dr. ABC
Dr. DEF
Dr. DEF
Dr. GHI
Dr. GHI
Dr. GHI
Y1314
Y1314
Y1023
Y1023
Y801
Y801
Y801
Item
CAS No.
Hexane, AR
Silver nitrate
Hexane, AR
Silver nitrate
Acetone, Tech.
Methanol, HPLC
Ethanol, Absolute
110-54-3
7761-88-8
110-54-3
7761-88-8
67-64-1
67-56-1
64-17-5
Container
Units QTY Remarks (Any special requirements: contact
Size
person, storage condition on request)
4.5
L
1 Contact Mr. Chan Tai Man for goods receive
100
g
1
Light sensitive
4.5
L
2
100
g
2
Light sensitive
2.5
L
1
4
L
2
2.5
L
2
Page 18 of 21
Appendix 3
Figure 2.
Page 19 of 21
Appendix 4
Figure 3. The flow chart for the procedures of bulk purchase arrangement
Page 20 of 21
Appendix 5
Figure 4. The flow chart for the central chemical purchasing procedures
Page 21 of 21