Annual stock check and collection

• the site address and locations to be covered each year
• your last stock list, in whatever format you use
• preferred months for the collection, with term dates if relevant
• typical waste streams that recur, such as solvents or bench solutions
• anything needing a one-off first step, such as old or unidentified stock
• the budget holder, purchase order route and the person who signs on the day

An annual plan consists of a fixed collection each year, priced by us according to your region, along with a disposal list built before the visit. A typical year's list includes:

• chemicals past the shelf life set for them, or no longer in schemes of work or methods
• surplus from over-ordering or a change of supplier
• working solutions made up and no longer wanted
• bottles with damaged closures or failing labels, caught early
• stock unopened for several years with no prospect of use
• used solvents and other routine waste from the year's work

Finds that need a manual enquiry are kept out of the plan and dealt with separately. That covers anything that seems to be unstable, along with explosives, radioactive sources, gas cylinders, asbestos and controlled drugs. Sites that have never had a clearance usually start with a one-off school chemical clearance or a chemical store assessment, because an annual plan works best from a known starting point.

Most schools plan around the summer term, and most hospital labs and universities around their own quiet periods. Work backwards from the collection date.

About three months beforehand, carry out the physical check. Walk each location, confirm what is there and note condition. Do it during a period when you have the time, and not in the same fortnight as coursework or practical exams. Six to eight weeks beforehand, finalise the disposal list. Teachers or research staff should see it, and they should have a fixed date by which to object. A month before, confirm access, the purchase order and who will be on site. Then, on the day, the chemist packs against the list, and your signatory hands the waste over and takes a copy of the note.

Afterwards, update the stock record straight away. Stock leaves faster than memory does, and a list updated a term later rarely matches the shelves. The consignee return follows, on a quarterly cycle in England, and it goes into the same file as the note.

A clear rule saves a lot of argument. We suggest writing down the rules your department will use, and then applying them every year, without treating each bottle as a new debate. Rules that work well include: anything unopened for three years, unless someone can name a practical that will use it; any made-up solution older than its stated shelf life, or without a date; any peroxide former past the date set in your risk assessment; and any container whose label can no longer be read with confidence.

Opened dates are the single most useful thing you can add to a stock record. Without them, a shelf of ethers can only be judged by the date of purchase, which says nothing about when a bottle was opened. With them, the list almost writes itself. Our register is built around this kind of routine, but a spreadsheet with a date column can do the same job.

Also look at what is being bought. If a chemical appears on the disposal list two years running, it is worth changing the pack size or the order, not just disposing of it again. The DfE guidance asks schools to check that stores do not already hold an adequate supply before they order, and to rotate stock in line with shelf-life dates. Hospitals and universities benefit in the same way.

Counting bottles is only part of a stock check. It should also compare what you find against what you expected, because some chemicals need accounting for. Under the Poisons Act, anyone holding regulated or reportable chemicals for professional purposes must report a significant loss or theft within 24 hours of finding out. A yearly reconciliation is one way you would find out, though a loss spotted at any other time still has to be reported.

Use the walk to look at storage too. Are oxidisers next to organics after a term of hurried returns? Has a bottle migrated to the wrong cupboard? Is a shelf bowing, a cabinet not closing or a label peeling? Then feed anything you find into your COSHH assessment review, because a chemical you now hold, or no longer hold, changes what that assessment needs to say.

The DfE notes that the fire service would need an up-to-date inventory if there were ever a fire on the premises. A yearly date gives that document a natural refresh. Keep a copy somewhere that can be reached without going into the store.

In England, consignment notes and consignee returns must be kept for three years at the premises. A yearly plan keeps that archive simple, with one set of documents for each year and a clear point at which the oldest passes out of the required period. Check your own retention policy first, as many organisations keep them for longer.

A yearly plan also gives you an honest record of how the store is changing. One year's list on its own says little. Three years of them show whether the amount of unwanted stock is shrinking, which is exactly what a head of department or safety committee will want to know.

A plan is priced in advance for your region band, and it goes on an invoice against your purchase order, paid by BACS. Collections also have a minimum order value. If you have a small store, a yearly plan may be more than you need, and holding a short list until the next stock check can be a better answer. Stable, identified waste can wait if it is stored securely and listed. Unstable stock cannot, and it should never be held back to make up a larger load.

Trusts and groups with several sites can ask for dates to be coordinated, so that schools or labs in one area are visited in the same period. Each site still has its own consignment note, and whether a shared round is possible depends on the carrier.