8 criteria for choosing chemical inventory management software
Here are 8 points to judge vendors by when you’re still in decision mode, and some associated tasks and questions for your demo:
#1. Accurate quantities and locations
Start with your physical layout. Can the system distinguish buildings, rooms, stores, tanks, and cabinets? Can you see a facility total and trace it back to individual records?
Look for receiving, transfer, consumption, and disposal workflows that match your operations. Check how the system records partial containers, stock estimates, and physical count corrections. Ask whether quantity updates rely on manual entry, scanning, integrations, or another method.
An integration doesn’t automatically create an accurate inventory. While purchasing records may show what you ordered, they may not show what you received, used, or moved.
Demo task: Move a partially used container between two departments. Show us the new location, remaining quantity, and change history.
#2. SDS management that matches the product
When on the lookout for software, check how the system matches each product to the correct supplier SDS, market, and language. It’s also important to consider how it handles revised documents and preserves earlier versions.
Workers need practical access during normal work and emergencies. In Great Britain, COSHH Regulation 12 requires employers to give relevant employees access to safety data sheets. The HSE’s training guidance also highlights this access.
In Ireland, the Chemical Agents Regulations require arrangements for chemical safety information and training.
Test shared devices, login requirements, poor connectivity, and your fallback arrangements. A document on a server won’t help someone who can’t reach it.
Demo task: Find the correct SDS from the production floor, then demonstrate access during a network interruption.
#3. Approval before a chemical enters use
Your inventory should help you control new chemical introductions. Look for workflows that involve the people who understand the proposed use, storage, exposure, and environmental requirements.
Give each decision an owner. Record the approved location and activity, any conditions, and the reason for a rejection. Link procurement to the approval process so workers don’t have to discover an unsuitable product after delivery.
Consider the following illustrative scenario: A maintenance team wants a new degreaser. Before purchase, the reviewer checks its proposed use, nearby storage, ventilation, and disposal arrangements against the facility’s assessment under Ireland’s Chemical Agents Regulations. The team can then make an informed decision and prepare the right controls.
Demo task: Submit a new product request, assign reviewers, and show how purchasing can check the decision.
#4. Connections to task-specific risk assessments
Chemical hazards matter, but the work determines exposure. Pouring, spraying, heating, and cleaning can create different risks with the same product.
Look for software that links an inventory item to the relevant tasks, controls, responsible people, and review dates. Ask how an SDS change or a new use prompts a review.
The HSE’s guidance on chemical safety data sheets makes a clear distinction: an SDS provides information for a risk assessment; it doesn’t replace the assessment. Your system should preserve that distinction. In Ireland, the HSA’s 2026 Code of Practice provides current occupational exposure limit values to support assessments under the Chemical Agents Regulations.
Also, take into account how the software supports the substitution of hazardous chemicals for safer alternatives.
Demo task: Show two activities that use the same chemical, with different exposure routes and controls.
#5. Storage and transfer information people can act on
Check whether workers can find storage restrictions and incompatibility information alongside the product record. If a provider offers compatibility alerts, ask which data and rules drive them, how users maintain them, and what the system can’t assess.
In Great Britain, DSEAR 2002 requires employers to identify dangerous substances and control relevant fire, explosion, and metal corrosion risks. An inventory can support that work by making substance and location information easier to review.
Real-life incident: Chemical unloading at MGPI
On the 30th of August 2022, a worker at Industrial Chemicals Limited’s Titan Works in Grays suffered burns while manually decanting caustic soda into 25-litre containers. The HSE’s investigation found no risk assessment or documented safe system of work for the task. Investigators identified an existing automatic dosing plant that could have removed the need for manual handling.
For software selection, use a situation like this to test how teams access chemical identities, tank locations, and transfer instructions. The investigation also shows why facilities need equipment safeguards and effective procedures alongside accurate information to help keep their teams safe.
Demo task: Show how an operator checks the intended chemical, destination, and relevant safety instructions before a transfer.
#6. Reporting that supports your local obligations
Ask the provider to demonstrate the records and calculations your facility actually needs. Establish whether the software produces a working report, an export for review, or a submission-ready format.
For covered facilities in Great Britain, the HSE’s COMAH guidance explains notification requirements, including the identity, quantity, and physical form of dangerous substances present or likely to be present.
‘COMAH’ is the interpretation of the European Union’s Seveso Directives.
Ireland’s COMAH Regulations 2015 also apply to relevant establishments. Check substance thresholds and aggregation rules before deciding which records and reports your facility needs.
Check unit conversions, mixture handling, reporting periods, and historical quantities. Don’t assume a current stock total can supply every required reporting field.
Demo task: Trace a reporting total back to its source records and explain every conversion and exclusion.
#7. Clear ownership and reliable access
Set responsibilities for product creation, quantity updates, SDS review, and physical checks. Look for permissions that give local teams the access they need while keeping facility-wide standards consistent.
Check audit history, data export, security controls, backup arrangements, and access for contractors. Ask how the supplier supports your expected number of products, locations, users, and simultaneous updates.
Real-life incident: A chemical transfer explosion in Swords, Co. Dublin
The HSA’s prosecution record describes an explosion at Arch Chemicals BV on 31st of May 2007 during the transfer of a sodium hydrogen sulphide solution from a tank to the production area. No one suffered injuries. In November 2008, the company pleaded guilty to offences under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005.
Use cases such as this to examine handovers, transfer authorisation, and practical checks. Accurate records and labels support safe work, but teams also need effective controls for the task.
Demo task: Show what a shift operator can view and change, and how a supervisor reviews those changes.
#8. Implementation support and total cost
When thinking about implementation and what it may require, consider the following:
- Ask how the supplier will help you clean existing data, match SDSs, establish location structures, and train workers.
- Agree who owns each stage and how you’ll verify the results.
- Compare the full cost of licences, modules, migration, integrations, support, training, and future expansion.
- Establish how you can export your information if your needs change.
- Pilot the software in one busy area before you expand and try to include receiving, production, maintenance, and EHS colleagues in the test. Their experience will show whether the workflow fits daily work.
Demo task: Walk us through the implementation plan, our responsibilities, and every charge in the proposal.
Did you know that nearly half of workers in the UK and Ireland handle hazardous chemicals?
Read more chemical management insights from workers in the UK and Ireland in our blog post.
