COLLEGES OF THE FENWAY – REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
ONLINE CHEMICAL INVENTORY AND SAFETY DATA SHEET DATABASE
I. GENERAL INFORMATION:
Colleges of the Fenway (“COF”), is a consortium of six (6) colleges: Emmanuel College, Massachusetts College
of Art and Design, Massachusetts Colleges of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University, Simmons College,
Wheelock College, and Wentworth Institute of Technology and is a 501c3 organization. We are seeking a
vendor to provide an online environmental health and safety (EH&S) database with 24-hour support.
a. The purpose of this contract is to assist with the colleges with the following:
 Maintaining chemical inventories
 Providing Safety Data Sheets
 Labeling of secondary containers
 Assisting with compliance regarding the Hazard Communication Standard
 Generating reports for regulatory agencies
 Identifying chemicals of concern
b. A COF Committee comprised of representatives from the interested colleges and the Director of
Operations and Collaborative Services and/or a representative COF staff member will decide which
company is awarded this work.
Goals: The colleges are seeking services to provide a 24-hour accessible Chemical Inventory and Safety Data
Sheet (SDS) database. The campuses have differing needs, and Section II outlines the various services of
interest to these three colleges.
This Request for Proposal (RFP) states the instructions for submitting proposals and the procedure and criteria
by which a vendor may be selected:
c. Definition of Parties: The Colleges of the Fenway and others collectively, will be referred to as
“COF”. The COF Committee will be referred to as Chemical Database Committee. Respondents to
the RFP will be referred to as “Bidders”. The Bidder to whom the contract is awarded will be
referred to as the “Vendor”.
d. Response Requirements: Bidders are asked to replicate the sequence of the outline and follow the
same numbering convention for each response.
II. DESIRED SERVICES
Please state your service capabilities and any requirements to provide the following:
1. Information from your company on how you ensure confidentially and maintain information security
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2. A method to upload existing chemical inventories in Microsoft Excel format or other spreadsheet
format
3. A method to upload existing SDSs
4. An existing database of chemicals, which are commonly used at academic colleges
5. A method to add chemicals to an inventory
6. A spreadsheet, which may be used by the colleges to complete an inventory, for uploading into the
database
7. A method to search by chemical name, Chemical Abstracts Service number, and synonyms
8. A method to tag certain chemicals to inform person entering data that the chemical requires approval
from the Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Department prior to use
9. A way to identify whether or not the chemical and/or amount is/are require reporting under the
following regulations:
a. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Lists of Lists: Extremely Hazardous
Substances; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA) Hazardous Substances; Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know
Act (EPCRA) Toxic Chemicals; Clean Air Act (CAA) Regulated Chemicals for Accidental Release
Prevention: http://www.epa.gov/emergencies/tools.htm#lol
b. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Chemicals of Interest:
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/chemsec_appendixa-chemicalofinterestlist.pdf
c. EPA Hazardous Air Pollutants: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/188polls.html
d. Massachusetts Toxic Use Reduction Act
Chemicals: http://www.mass.gov/dep/toxics/approvals/chemlist.pdf
e. Massachusetts
Fire
Prevention
Process
Safety
Regulation:
http://www.mass.gov/eopss/docs/dfs/osfm/cmr/cmr-secured/527033.pdf
10. A way to classify a chemical as a Particularly Hazardous Substance as defined as a chemical having one
or more of the following properties:
a. A rating of 3 or 4 in the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 704 Standard
b. Any of the following the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of
Chemicals (GHS) Hazard Statements listed on the chemical's SDS:
i. Danger hazard
ii. H300: Fatal if swallowed
iii. H304: May be fatal if swallowed and enters airways
iv. H330: Fatal if inhaled
v. H334: May cause allergy or asthma symptoms or breathing difficulties if inhaled
vi. H340: May cause genetic defects
vii. H341: Suspected of causing genetic defects
viii. H350: May cause cancer
ix. H351: Suspected of causing cancer
x. H360: May damage fertility or the unborn child
xi. H361: Suspected of damaging fertility or the unborn child
xii. H361d: Suspected of damaging the unborn child
xiii. H362: May cause harm to breast-fed children
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11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
xiv. H370: Causes damage to organs
xv. H371: May cause damage to organs
xvi. H372: Causes damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure
xvii. H373: May cause damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure
c. On the list of known human carcinogens: http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/pubhealth/roc/index.html
d. Air reactive
e. Peroxide former
f. Shock sensitive
A way to identify the proper storage location for the chemical as follows:
a. Flammable and/or combustible liquid – Flammable cabinet
b. Acids – Acid or corrosive cabinet
c. Base – Base or corrosive cabinet
A way to generate a NFPA diamond for rooms, which contain a hazardous chemical in accordance with
the NFPA 704 Standard and the Boston Fire Prevention Code – Section 86-1-01
(http://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/preven_code_tcm3-4039.pdf)
A way to generate a report, which may be imported into the Tier II Management System used by the
Massachusetts
Emergency
Management
Agency
(http://www.mass.gov/eopss/agencies/mema/emergency-info/haz-mat/serc/)
A method to generate Hazard Communication labels for secondary containers of hazardous chemicals
Ability to connect to a bar code system or provide a bar code system
Reporting capabilities for Emergency Management teams to search the chemical database to
determine which chemicals are located within a specific building and/or room.
The proposal will outline the cost of the chemical inventory database and the cost to upload chemicals into the
database on behalf of the college. In addition, the proposal should include:




A cost if all six, or if five, or if four colleges agree to participate
A cost for each college to participate
A cost if you are responsible for maintaining the database on your server
A cost if the college is responsible for maintaining the database on their server and technical
requirements
III. COMMUNICATION AND SUPPORT SERVICES
a. Describe how you would aid the colleges in maintaining a chemical inventory and the associated SDSs.
b. On a semi-annual basis, the Vendor will meet with the contract administrator to review how the
colleges are using the database and if there are any concerns.
c. The Vendor must provide 24-hour/7 days per week support for the database.
d. The Vendor must provide a secure database.
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IV. BILLING MODEL
The Vendor will bill each college individually on a quarterly basis.
V. KEY CONTACT
Please provide the key contact for this RFP within the RFP.
VI. BIDDER REFERENCES
A list of three (3) business references is required. These references should be colleges your firm has done
business with in the past year on projects with a similar scope to this one.
a. Evaluation Criteria: Proposals will be evaluated on many criteria deemed to be in COF’s best interests,
including, but not limited to: the ability to meet specifications and contract start date of October 1, 2015,
responsiveness to terms and conditions, financial stability of bidder, cost to COF member institutions,
procedures and policies of bidders, and availability of personnel and references.
b. It is the responsibility of the Bidder to inquire about any requirement of this RFP that is not
understood. Responses to inquiries, if they change or clarify the RFP in a substantial manner, will be
forwarded to all parties that have received a copy of the RFP.
Debbie Pepper
dpepper@colleges-fenway.org
Phone: 617-632-2729
c. Address:
Colleges of the Fenway
375 Longwood Avenue
Boston, MA 02215-5328
Award of Proposal: Presentations may be requested of one or more Bidders deemed by the Committee to
be the best suited among those submitting proposals on the basis of the selection criteria. After
presentations have been conducted, the Chemical Database Committee may select the Bidder which, in its
opinion, has made the proposal that is the most responsive and most responsible and may award the
contract to that bidder. The Chemical Database Committee reserves the right to waive minor
irregularities. COF may cancel this RFP or reject any or all proposals at any time prior to an award.
Timeline and key milestones:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Collect names of bidders start July 13, 2015
Send notification by July 27, 2015
Organize vendor site visit/audit week of August 3, 2015
Proposal Deadline: August 17, 2015
Review proposals and select finalists by August 31, 2015
Invite finalists/presenters to meeting during the week of September 21, 2015
Determine Contractor by no later than September 25, 2015
Notify participants of decision by no later than September 30, 2015
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o
Sign new contract and or Master Agreement by October 1, 2015
Confidentiality: The information contained in proposals submitted for COF consideration will be held in
confidence.
Note: Should Mass College of Art and Design elect to engage in these services, the awarded vendor will be
required to execute the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Terms and Conditions document - link below.
http://inside.massart.edu/Documents/departments/administrative_services/PU-Comm-TandC.pdf
Proposal Submission: A SIGNED original and an electronic version in Microsoft Word of the proposal
should be submitted on a flash drive by 4:00 p.m. August 17, 2015 to:
Colleges of the Fenway
Attention: Debbie Pepper
375 Longwood Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
dpepper@colleges-fenway.org
Back up should be provided in a sealed date stamped envelope. Proposals received after the due date and
time will be returned and eliminated from the process. Vendors are strongly encouraged to submit
proposals in advance of the due date to avoid the possibility of missing the due date because of
unforeseen circumstances. COF assumes no responsibility for delays caused by inaccurate email addresses
or mail delivery service.
Proposals will be reviewed by the Chemical Database Committee and one or more bidders will be invited
to present their proposals during the week of September 21, 2015.
GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
a. Contract Term: The contract term shall be for a period of three (3) years unless the committee
recommends a shorter engagement commencing upon October 1, 2015.
b. Contract Data: The Contractor is required to provide COF with detailed data concerning the contract on a
quarterly basis, at the completion of each contract year and periodically as requested by COF or the
college for review and evaluation.
c. Cancellation/Termination: If the Contractor defaults in its agreement to provide personnel to the
satisfaction of COF, the referenced colleges, or in any other way fail to provide service in accordance with
the contract terms, COF or the colleges may take whatever action it deems necessary to provide alternate
services and may, at its option, immediately cancel this Contract.
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d. Equal Opportunity: In the execution of the contract, the Contractor and all subcontractors agree not to
discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin or
citizenship status, age, disability or veteran’s status and to provide reasonable accommodations to
qualified individuals with disabilities upon request.
e. Sexual Harassment: COF is committed to providing a positive environment for all students and
staff. Sexual harassment, whether intentional or not, undermines the quality of this educational and
working climate. COF has a legal and ethical responsibility to ensure that all students and employees can
learn and work in an environment free of sexual harassment.
PERFORMANCE TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
Contract Administration: The Executive Director of the Colleges of the Fenway, Inc., or designee, shall be COF’s
authorized representative in all matters pertaining to the administration of this contract.
SIGNATURE:
COMPANY NAME __________________________________________________________
By: ______________________________________________________________________
(Signature)
______________________________________________________________________
(Print Name)
______________________________________________________________________
(Title)
______________________________________________________________________
(Phone number)
______________________________________________________________________
(Email Address)
______________________________________________________________________
(Date)
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