Inspection template in the LeanSuite app
Last reviewed
Chemical storage and handling inspection checklist
A chemical storage inspection checks how chemicals are labelled, stored and handled in one store or area each month. Its 16 questions follow the order you meet them on a walk: labels and safety data sheets, segregation and containment, PPE, eyewash and spill kit, then the inventory and waste records. Labels and safety data sheets are the core of OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard, 29 CFR 1910.1200.
EHS, the store owner or the area lead walks it once a month with the chemical inventory in hand. What a failed walk looks like: a spray bottle with no label filled from a drum, an acid stored next to bleach, a tote with no bund or a bund half full of rainwater, safety data sheets that do not match what is on the shelf, and an eyewash station blocked by a pallet. Each finding goes to a named person with a date.
What it is for, as built: Monthly check of how chemicals are labelled, stored and handled in an area or store.
The full question list
The 16 questions in the inspection
Every question is answered Yes, No or N/A. Each No is flagged and asks for a photo and a comment, so the finding arrives with its evidence.
Labels and information
- 1All containers are labelled with the product name and hazard
- 2Safety data sheets are available and current
- 3Smaller or secondary containers are labelled too
Storage
- 4Incompatible chemicals are stored apart
- 5Flammables are kept in approved cabinets or stores
- 6Containers are closed, undamaged and off the floor
- 7Secondary containment is in place and free of liquid
- 8Ventilation is adequate
- 9Quantities kept at the point of use are within limits
Handling and emergency equipment
- 10The right PPE is worn when handling chemicals
- 11An eyewash station is close by and works
- 12A stocked spill kit is available
- 13Decanting and transfer follow the written procedure
Records
- 14The chemical inventory is up to date
- 15Waste chemicals are separated and labelled
- 16Training records for people who handle chemicals are current
Worked example, illustrative
A filled-in example
One section as it might be filled in on the floor, with every other section of the inspection answered Yes. The place and finding are made up to show how the inspection reads and scores.
Result: fail, 87.5% against a pass mark of 90
- 16 questions, all of them count.
- 2 answered No, so 14 of 16 are Yes: 14 ÷ 16 = 87.5%.
- 87.5% is under 90, so the inspection fails.
What happened next: Store owner moved the bleach to its own bay that day. Maintenance pumped out and tested the bund within the week.
Scored here as one point per question with N/A left out. In the app each answer carries the points set on the template, so change them after you clone it if your plant weighs some checks more.
Chemical Storage and Handling Inspection
Inspection, monthly
- Storage area
- Chemical store B, outdoor tote bay
Storage
- Incompatible chemicals are stored apartNo
- Flammables are kept in approved cabinets or storesYes
- Containers are closed, undamaged and off the floorYes
- Secondary containment is in place and free of liquidNo
Comment: Drum of sodium hypochlorite stored on the same shelf as the hydrochloric acid totes. Bund under tote 2 half full of rainwater.
Photo attached to each No
- Ventilation is adequateYes
- Quantities kept at the point of use are within limitsYes
When to use it
- Once a month.
- The person responsible for the area or equipment answers each question on the spot.
- Each record starts with: Storage area.
How it is scored
The template is built with points per answer and a pass mark of 90. In this library every audit is set to pass at 80 and every inspection at 90. Each submitted inspection shows its score and pass or fail, and every No is flagged with its photo and comment.
Change the points or the pass mark after you clone it. How rules and scoring work.
Read and print
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FAQ
Chemical storage and handling inspection checklist: common questions
Once a month per store or area is how the walk is set. Walk it again after a delivery of a new product, after a spill or a near miss, when a process changes what is kept at the point of use, and after heavy rain for any outdoor bund. A store with daily decanting benefits from a quick look at labels and containment each week.
EHS, the store owner or the area lead does it with the chemical inventory in hand. They need to read a label and a safety data sheet, know which groups must be kept apart and know where the written transfer procedure lives. Any No on segregation or containment goes to the EHS lead, who agrees the fix and closes it with the store owner.
A fail means a leak, a reaction or an exposure is waiting to happen: incompatibles together, a bund holding liquid, unlabelled bottles, a blocked eyewash. Separate incompatibles and empty the bund before you leave the store. Label or dispose of unknown containers. Each remaining No gets a named owner and a date. In this template every No is flagged and asks for a photo and a comment, and an inspection that scores under its pass mark of 90 is a fail.
Keep the store name, date, who walked it, the inventory used, each No with a photo and the action that closed it, and the list of safety data sheets checked. Month on month this shows whether the same shelf keeps mixing acids and bleach and whether the inventory tracks what is actually on the floor. In LeanSuite each submitted inspection is stored with its score, its pass or fail, and the photo and comment on every No.
16 questions in 4 sections: labels and information, storage, handling and emergency equipment, and records. Every question is answered Yes, No or N/A.
Use this template in LeanSuite
It is ready in the Template Marketplace inside Lean Creator as “Chemical Storage and Handling Inspection”. Clone it into your plant, change any question, then schedule it to a person, role or asset with reminders. Auditors complete it on a phone or tablet, with photo evidence where required.
Not on LeanSuite yet? On a 90-day pilot our team sets up your account and digitizes the forms and checklists you use today, this one included.