The Chemicals You Aren’t Tracking Could Be Your Biggest Risk

You’ve probably got your high-hazard chemicals under control. The SDS are current, your team knows the drill, and everything’s clearly labeled. But what about the spray bottle tucked away in the maintenance closet? Or that adhesive sitting on a shelf in shipping? Or the degreaser the night crew uses every night without a second thought?

That’s where trouble often starts. Many companies focus on high-risk chemicals and overlook the everyday products that still fall under OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1926.59). These common materials, like cleaners, solvents, and lubricants, may not seem like a big deal, but they still need to be tracked. If they’re missed, it can lead to compliance violations, fines, or even workplace incidents and injuries that could’ve been avoided.

The reality is, you’re still responsible for them. The good news? You don’t have to manage it all manually. With smart chemical tracking built into your EHS system, you can close the gaps without adding more work. In this post, we’ll break down the hidden risks of untracked chemicals, the most common mistakes we see, and how modern platforms help you stay compliant, organized, and in control.

What Are Overlooked Chemicals?

These aren’t the chemicals locked in secure storage. These are the everyday items your team might use without thinking twice:

• All-purpose cleaners
  

• Solvents
  

• Aerosol lubricants
  

• Paints and adhesives
  

• Battery maintenance fluids

You’ll find them in janitorial closets, tool rooms, and loading docks. Those everyday products that seem too basic to worry about. Because they’re so common, they’re often left out of chemical inventories and hazard communication training. But if a product carries a hazard label, OSHA expects it to be tracked. During an inspection, a missing SDS or unlabeled container is more than a small oversight, it’s a violation. And if that same chemical contributes to an injury? The consequences escalate fast.

Even chemicals considered low-risk can be dangerous with repeated use. Workers exposed to these materials day after day may develop respiratory issues, skin conditions, or allergic reactions. And when something does go wrong, it’s often hard to trace the cause if those products were never documented in the first place.

Recognizing these overlooked chemicals is the first step. But understanding how and why they get missed in the first place is just as important.

Where Inventory Gaps Usually Start

In most organizations, chemical management systems are only as strong as the habits behind them, and that’s where things break down:

1. Manual errors: Paper logs get lost. Spreadsheets go out of date. Products get mislabeled or logged under different names. Over time, these small mistakes create blind spots that are hard to catch without a system in place.
2. Siloed systems: The safety department might not know what purchasing ordered last week. Facilities may substitute products without telling anyone. When different departments operate on their own, key details slip through the cracks.
3. No training: Employees may not realize certain products require SDS. If no one explains that a floor wax or a contact adhesive counts as a hazardous chemical, it’s easy for it to be overlooked entirely.
4. Multi-site blind spots: One location might track things perfectly. Another might not know they’re supposed to. Without a standard process across locations, it’s hard to know where the gaps are, until they show up in an audit.

When the cracks start in your processes, it’s only a matter of time before they show up in your compliance record. That’s where the right tools can make all the difference.

Why a Unified EHS System Changes Everything

Trying to manage chemicals with spreadsheets, binders, and email chains is asking for something to fall through the cracks. Centralized software changes the game by bringing everything together in one place.

With the right capabilities, you can:

• Track every hazardous chemical automatically
  

• Set reminders for SDS updates and inventory checks
  

• Run reports to spot missing information
  

• Let mobile teams scan and log chemicals in real time
  

• Keep everyone on the same page by making sure safety, operations, purchasing, and frontline teams all work from the same information.

When everything lives in one system, it’s easier to keep up. You don’t have to rely on memory, guesswork, or separate files across departments. It’s not just about compliance, it’s about control. The more control you have over your chemical data, the lower your risk. However, while a strong system solves a lot, a smart one goes even further. That’s where HSI and HSI Intelligence come in.

How HSI Helps: Smarter Chemical Tracking with HSI Intelligence

At HSI, we’ve built chemical tracking into our EHS System, and we’ve added HSI Intelligence, our AI-powered engine, to help you spot problems you might miss on your own.

With HSI Intelligence, you can:

• Get training recommendations based on incident data

• Spot risk trends based on product usage or patterns of minor injuries
  

• Analyze images to detect hazards others overlook

Our AI isn’t a gimmick. It’s built by industry experts and backed by patented technology. Whether you're running a single site or managing hundreds, HSI makes it easier to track, manage, and stay ahead of your chemical compliance. And it’s already part of the HSI Platform. No extra tool to manage. No added cost. Just smarter safety, built in.

You Can’t Protect What You Don’t Track

Skipping a few chemicals may not seem like a big deal. But those gaps can turn into compliance violations, worker injuries, or audit failures. Thankfully, they’re completely preventable.

If your chemical inventory isn’t complete, now’s the time to act. Take a walk through your facility. Open that storage cabinet. Ask your team what they’re using that hasn’t been logged, and let technology help you close the loop.

HSI helps businesses like yours stay ahead of chemical safety and compliance. With tools to centralize your chemical data, automate regulatory tasks, and surface hazards early, our platform helps you stay confident, and audit-ready.

Want to see it in action? Request a demo or talk to our team about how HSI can help you protect your people and your bottom line.