Chemical Safety Management Certificate for K-12 Schools

Chemical safety management for superintendents, principals and district leaders

The Chemical Safety Management Certificate for K-12 Schools teaches the people who decide what a district does about chemicals how to set up and run a chemical safety management program. Chemicals sit in the science wing and far beyond it: custodial closets, boiler rooms, art studios, trade shops, the nurse’s office and the grounds shed.

It is built on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toolkit for Safe Chemical Management in K-12 Schools, a set of public federal guidance documents written between 2006 and 2008, brought up to date with the rules in force today. It is a Science Safety course; EPA did not write it and does not endorse it.

Ten modules, in the order a district does the work

• Leadership, the Law and the Team: who runs the program, which federal and state rules reach your schools, and the partners who help.
• Find Out Where You Stand: where chemicals hide in a school, a safe walk-through, a full self-evaluation and goals you can measure.
• Design the Program: a first-year plan, the real cost of a chemical, and where the money comes from.
• The District Chemical Management Plan: the board policy, how it fits with the Chemical Hygiene Plan and hazard communication, and approved and prohibited chemical lists.
• Purchasing and Donations: one door in for every chemical, donations and products from home, and safer substitutes.
• A Safe District Inventory: planning the count so nobody is hurt, what it records, and years of supply.
• The Cleanout: the disposal list, your hazardous waste category, the one-cleanout-a-year rule, and hiring a qualified vendor.
• Hazards Across the Campus: mercury, lead and PCBs, asbestos, treated playground wood, radioactive sources, cleaning products and pesticides.
• Training, Communication and Emergencies: training by audience, the fire department and parents, and the spill response plan.
• Keeping the Program Going: the yearly cycle and the report to the board.

Each module ends with a Task, a set of “What you learned” flip cards and a short quiz. The ten Tasks fill in ten fillable templates, and the Final Project assembles them as your District Chemical Management Program binder. Complete the course to earn the Science Safety certificate.