Heriot-Watt University

Heriot-Watt University has been pioneering education and research since 1821, shaping ideas and delivering solutions to global challenges. With five campuses spanning Edinburgh, the Scottish Borders, Orkney, Dubai, and Malaysia, the university is home to over 27,000 students from 154 countries. As a leader in engineering, business, and science, Heriot-Watt has earned a reputation for innovation, industry partnership, and impactful research, with almost 87% of its outputs ranked world-leading or internationally excellent.

The university’s diverse research environment, including multiple laboratories with fast-changing chemical profiles, requires rigorous oversight of chemical use. For any organisation operating in such a dynamic setting, maintaining compliance with COSHH regulations and having a clear, centralised view of all chemical activities is essential.

Without the right tools, managing inventories, producing consistent assessments, and compiling audit-ready reports can be time-consuming and complex. “We need the self-authoring tool because we have our own experts in house that are dealing with the chemicals that they’re using, and we also need to be able to have some kind of oversight as to what they’re doing,” says Dr. Lorraine Russell, Health and Safety Manager at Heriot Watt University. “So we have access to all the COSHH that are within the system and we can audit it properly and make sure we’re all doing what we should be doing.”. 

With EcoOnline’s Chemical Management software, Heriot-Watt operates a single, structured system that delivers clear, consistent oversight of chemical safety. “Using the self-authoring tool in the COSHH system allows us to have our COSHH assessments in the same format as the rest of the system, which means that we are able to audit it properly and be able to actually analyse what we have on site at any one time,” adds Dr Russell.

By linking directly into the central database, the self-authoring tool also streamlines reporting, providing “a full set of COSHH assessments for everything that’s happening on site.” Its adaptability means the university can request features specific to its line of work, ensuring the system meets the needs of specialist research environments.

This clarity and flexibility empower both local lab teams and central safety management to act quickly and confidently. Whether adapting assessments for unique research processes or ensuring compliance across multiple sites, EcoOnline provides the visibility and control needed to protect people and meet regulations without slowing the pace of innovation.

 EcoOnline’s Chemical Management platform equips organisations to:

• Centralise all chemical data in one system
• Create compliant COSHH assessments with self-authoring flexibility
• Maintain real-time oversight of chemical inventories
• Simplify audits and compliance reporting

Adapt assessments for specialised work without losing standardisation