The eCOSHH system refers to all chemical and biological substances as 'agents'. The system has uses a local database of agents which you can select from to include in section 2 of your COSHH forms. The system can also access the entire ChemWatch catalogue, but it maintains a list of 'active agents' which are used when selecting or searching for agents. The active agents database contains a vast number of the previously added ChemWatch items, plus custom agents requested and added by the system users.
agents that are on the active agents list will already be available to add to COSHH forms. Users can browse and search the database.
agents held in the ChemWatch database can be searched for by name or CAS, and any item found in this way can be added to the active list. This does not require approval.
agent request: users can enter the details of a new agent. An approval request is sent to the user's DSC and once approved, the agent will appear on the active agents database. This will typically only need to be done for biological agents or extremely unusual chemicals that are not listed in ChemWatch, such as novel compounds.
also see: agent search | agent request | agent approval