Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

An independent international scientific advisory board is attached to Stoffenmanager®. This advisory board includes representatives of various top universities and knowledge institutes from Europe and beyond. The task of the advisory board is to advise on the further development of the Stoffenmanager® tool. In this way we ensure that Stoffenmanager® 8 complies with the very latest legislation and regulations and is in line with the latest scientific insights. Stoffenmanager® has been validated on the basis of more than 7000 measurements and is (inter)nationally recognised by local authorities and the EU. With Stoffenmanager® you go through the four steps of SZW's Self-inspection Tool for Hazardous Substances. Stoffenmanager® is mentioned in the REACH R.14 Guidance of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA, August 2016): "Table R14-13: Domain of reliable application of Stoffenmanager® (the algorithms can only be found at www.stoffenmanager.com in its most recent version)".

We have a free licence and paid licences. On our website you can see for yourself which licence suits you best. Through our contact form you can request a (free) quotation.

If you are interested in one or more modules or licences, please contact us (without obligation) via our contact form. You can get more information about the different licences and modules. A quotation can also be arranged for you. We give a demo for free, please contact us.

You can attend the free basic hazardous substances training. In this training you will learn basic concepts, global legislation, etc. After that, you could attend Stoffenmanager® training courses. These are offered both online and in person. Check our agenda.

It is useful to create a location structure so that you can link products to the right location. You can then filter by location, where you can easily and quickly find products. You can create a location structure by going to the gear wheel in the blue bar and then choosing "locations".

Stoffenmanager® has a scope. Here you can see exactly what kind of risk assessments can be done with Stoffenmanager®.

To view and compare risk assessments, go to "assessment" and "inhalation risk assessment" in the big blue bar, you will see the risk assessments overview. In the red bar, go to the three dots and choose "columns". Here you can switch on, for example, the columns "task concentration", "limit value task", " RCR task", "task duration", "daily concentration", "limit value day" and "RCR day". You can see in 1 overview which risk assessments are controlled or not.

You can click "Forgot password?" at login. You will then be sent a link to reset the password.

If there is no other administrator, it is best to contact the helpdesk.

We can take all the work off your hands. From entering products to performing risk assessments, plans of action, policies, etc. Contact us here.

In most cases this is possible. XML files can be uploaded into Stoffenmanager®. However, these XML files must have the same format. Would you like to know more about this? Please contact us.

Yes, this is possible with our PGS-15 module (this module is only available in the Dutch version). In this, you create your storage areas, link your product (available from Stoffenmanager®) and you can thus test your storage and facilities against the PGS-15 guideline. You can purchase this module in addition to your licence. Attached you can find our leaflet with prices. Would you like to use this module you can contact us.

Congratulations on your new account! It's best to create a location structure first, once you've done that you can enter a product. Click here to see the video.

You go to "inventory" and then choose "new product". You fill in the five different tabs, which are listed below each other. There are references displayed to the different sections of the safety data sheet where you can find the information. Click here to see the video.

If you do not know the vapour pressure of the product, we recommend choosing the vapour pressure of the component that is present in the product in the largest percentage, or the most volatile component. If these values are not known, you may enter a default value, e.g. 2300.

A product can be linked to multiple locations. During product creation, you can select multiple locations in "general data" under the heading "location".

The answer can also be found in the manual Stoffenmanager which can be downloaded from the dashboard. If a range is given in the SDS, e.g. 10-20%, at least the middle of the range (15%) must be entered. This is the way the calculation rules have been scientifically validated. If you take the upper range, you are unnecessarily estimating worst-case exposure.

If a component cannot be found when you create a product, this may have the following causes:

1. The component is not yet in your Stoffenmanager® account. Create a component by clicking the green button in the product at ""Safety and health information"", you can create a new component here. 

2. The component is a liquid and you have marked you product as a solid. In this case, select that your product is a liquid.

3. The component with the corresponding CAS number is already linked to your product.

A paste or gel is best entered into Stoffenmanager® as a liquid with low vapour pressure (<10 Pa).

When you create a component, you will see a "view on Gestis" website button. If the component is known in the Gestis website, this button turns blue. If you click this button, you will enter the Gestis database. You will find data such as vapour pressure, H-phrases, etc.

You can manage columns by going to the red or blue bar of your overview. Click on the three small dots in the bar, choose "columns". You can select the desired columns here.

You can turn on the "hazard designation" column in the product overview. Here you can search for specific H-phrases.

You can filter the summaries by choosing the desired filter or sort for each column. For some columns, you can also search by a specific word or number. You can also add or remove columns from the overview yourself. You can do this using the three buttons at the top of each column.

Stoffenmanager® has a red overview (edit) where changes can be made directly to the product/component/ RI&E. Stoffenmanager® also has a blue report overview where you can select further columns. Please note: in the blue report overview you cannot see your implemented changes. For that you have to update the overview first.

If you cannot remove a product, this product may be linked to a risk assessment (inhalation or skin). In the case of an inhalation risk assessment, there may also be a job-day average linked to the risk assessment.

The procedure for removing a product is:

1. Remove the function daily average.
2. Remove the risk assessment (skin and/or inhalation).
3. Remove the product.
4. Remove any components and supplier.

Note! Components and suppliers can only be removed if they are no longer linked to other products.

As a user, you can choose to use the company settings or to use only a subset of the lists selected by the company administrator. By default, the Dutch CMR list is selected.

If you want to manage CMR and hazard lists as an administrator, go to the wheel, "My company" and then select "CMR policy and hazard lists". Here you can select which CMR lists you want to use. If you have a Premium licence, you can also select hazard lists.

If you cannot delete a component, it may be because the component is still linked to a product. It could also be that the product is archived or that you have named a new version of the product, whose old version still has the component linked to it.

You may have linked your product to a different location, than the location to which you want to do the risk assessment. Make sure the risk assessment location and the product are the same.

The hazard class "B" is the lowest class for eyes. A hazardous substance can always cause some degree of eye irritation, so Stoffenmanager® will not display an A class.

Yes, this is possible. Please note! Are you performing an assessment involving aerosol formation, spraying of the substance, higher temperatures, etc.? Then select "solid and liquid" as the type when creating the relevant solid components. If you want to carry out an assessment for this, it is best to assign this component a low vapour pressure (<10 Pa).

The dashboard shows the total number of products entered in Stoffenmanager®. The moment you have archived products, your product overview will show less products than on the dashboard. To find these products, go to the product overview, click on the three dots in the red bar and choose "archived". If you turn off the filter at "archived", you will see the same number of products that are also in your dashboard.

In the Premium version of Stoffenmanager® it is already possible to use own product and Risk assessment fields. These are then also shown on the WIC card and, of course, in all overviews. You can create these fields via the settings (cogwheel, top right of your screen) -> "my company" -> "own fields". This is also described in our manual, which can be found on the Dashboard and can also be downloaded here.

A formula described in the literature and validated and approved by the Stoffenmanager® International Scientific Advisory Board is used to convert the vapour pressure at a process temperature > 20°C. This is not publicly available. Only researchers and authorities can gain insight into the formula under a confidentiality agreement (click here for more information).

The supplier may specify a different vapour pressure. For the components, we really refer to the data coming from GESTIS. For the vapour pressure of the product, we refer to the SDS. Sometimes it has to do with the temperature at which the vapour pressure was determined, the origin of the data (scientific or theoretical/calculated) etc. If you are really in doubt, it is advisable to ask the supplier what the data is based on.

You can modify users "rights and roles" via the key icon. If you go to settings (cog icon), then click "users and rights", you can find the overview of users. You cannot modify the rights of users who are also administrators.

The digital product depot (DPD) can be activated by the administrator of your account. The DPD can be used as a catalogue of all products in your account. Using the DPD is useful if several branches of your company work together in an account. However, there are some points of interest here that are best discussed with your us.

This could be due to several reasons. If you use REACH when reviewing, and that component is reviewed in it, that could be a reason. It could also be that an old version of one of your products has the component linked. You can see this by clicking the following in Stoffenmanager®. Go to: product overview> report> turn on columns "version number" and "composition" > in "version number", choose "all versions" > type the cas number of the component in the search field of "composition". If the component appears in one of the older versions of a product, that is the reason you cannot archive the component.

You can archive products that are not being used. You can do this by clicking on the product, which will take you to the 5 tabs where a product can be entered. If you scroll all the way down, you will see the "archive" button. If you click on it, you can archive the product.

If you have done a risk assessment with this product, you will have to archive the risk assessment first, then you can archive the product.

Unfortunately it is not possible to archive a job daily average, you will have to delete it first. However, it is possible to make an Excel export (Premium) of the overview of the job daily averages.

To dearchive a product, go to the product overview. On the red bar, click on the three dots and choose "Columns". Choose "Archived". Filter on "yes" and "partially". Click the product you want to archive and scroll all the way down. Click on "dearchive".

Currently, Stoffenmanager® does not provide notification for changes related to the classification of a product/part. You can read in the newsletter when changes have occurred and which changes they are. You can subscribe to the newsletter on the homepage.

The moment a component has a boiling point lower than the process temperature, it is a gaseous component.

Stoffenmanager® has not been validated to do assessments for gases, hence Stoffenmanager® does not provide an assessment for that component.

The abbreviation Q.S. stands for: Quantum satis (abbreviation q.s. or Q.S.) is a Latin term meaning the amount which is enough (Wikipedia). The supplier will have to specify what the actual range is for this component.

Taking measures is covered in the training Stoffenmanager® part 3. Here you will learn step by step how to take control measures and how these can be included in the action plan in Stoffenmanager®.

You can find limit values lists in Stoffenmanager® at component creation. If there are no limit values displayed, you could take Stoffenmanager® training part 2. Here you will learn how to find and possibly derive limit values yourself. The consultants of Stoffenmanager® can also help you with this. The toxicologists can also derive toxicological limit values for you. Please contact us.

The consultants can look into your account with you. Based on this, the consultants can determine what further needs to be done. The consultants could elaborate further on risk assessments for you and possibly (air) measurements (NL) could be done.

It is possible to do risk assessments with a spray can. Spray cans contain liquids and gases. Please note that in Stoffenmanager® gases cannot be assessed, so the values that can come from them are not reliable. You indicate the product as a liquid with a default vapour pressure of 2301 Pa. Give the liquid components the values corresponding to those components. It is best not to give the gas components a vapour pressure, so they are not included in the calculation. When doing the risk assessment, choose liquid and the action "working with liquids at high pressure and visibly producing a mist or haze".

Version management and updating