Chemical Laboratory Technology

The individual needs to know and understand:

• The internal and external regulatory environment for the sector
• The internal business environment including one's personal role, ethical practice, and codes of conduct
• Health and safety legislation, regulations, and best practice
• Scientific principles for laboratory-based activities
• Principles for work planning, scheduling, organization, and completion
• The theoretical basis for applied chemistry including how to apply physical, organic, and inorganic chemistry to laboratory work
• Principles and methods for the safe disposal or recycling of chemicals and chemically related substances

The individual shall be able to:

• Maintain personal health and safety at all times including through personal protective clothing and equipment
• Perform work taking into account relevant regulations, norms, quality, safety and environmental standards
• Implement safety data sheets and the measures and procedures derived from them for
  • Handling, maintaining, and repairing laboratory devices, apparatus, and equipment
  • Handling, maintaining, and disposing of/recycling chemicals used in laboratories
• Follow risk management systems, proactively
• Maintain good housekeeping
• Order and inventory materials to maintain supplies, within budget and budgetary procedures
• Ensure electronic equipment is fit for purpose
• Inspect structures and materials for their condition and usability
• Work independently, taking responsibility for initiating and completing tasks within the parameters of the work role
• Estimate the requirements of a piece of work in terms of time, costs, resources, and materials needed for completion.
• Develop specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish work, relative to set objectives and targets
• Investigate alternative means of resolving delays
• Adjust activities as required, keeping relevant others informed

The individual needs to know and understand:

• Principles of communication
• Principles for human interactivity
• The impact of one's own work on others, especially where related to diversity and equality
• The specialist terminology associated with the work role and sector
• The intention and purpose of statistical methods for data presentation
• The limitations in reporting results
• The uses of ICT, management information systems, and databases in chemical environments

The individual shall be able to:

• Establish and maintain interpersonal relations
• Work and interact with others including within teams
• Provide technical support to chemists or other specialists
• Communicate using a full range of techniques for speaking, writing, body language, and active listening, for formal and informal purposes
• Use specialist terminology including where these are in another language
• Obtain information from all relevant sources, citing sources as required
• Read and apply the content of technical documents relating to
  • Analyses
  • Formulations
  • Procedural instructions
  • Specifications
  • Diagrams
• Listen actively, asking questions appropriately for full understanding
• Use laboratory information and laboratory management systems, both digital and paper based
• Order information and actions according to logic or given rules
• Apply statistical techniques for data presentation
• Use a range of textual and graphical methods to inform others
• Communicate scientific information appropriately for the audience or recipient
• Prepare and give formal and informal presentations
• Seek, accept and, as appropriate, build on feedback and constructive criticism

The individual needs to know and understand:

• The foundations of inorganic chemistry relative to structure and bonding
• The chemistry of important elements and compounds
• The principles and practical techniques of organic chemistry
• Reaction mechanisms and functional group conversions
• Concepts and practical techniques in physical chemistry, including thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, conductivity, electrochemical cells, and electrolysis
• Principles of laboratory techniques and scientific experimentation
• Principles of project management, and how these apply to laboratory work
• The requirements for the development and validation of analytical methods and instrumentation, including understanding suitable sampling methods
• Trends in support for experiments, including the use of kits

The individual shall be able to:

• Prepare for laboratory tasks using the appropriate scientific techniques, procedures, and methods
• Use specified instrumentation and laboratory equipment, including calibration as required
• Evaluate the quality of materials or products to be used
• Design or fabricate experimental apparatus to develop new products or processes
• Perform laboratory tasks using specified methodologies, including standard operating procedures
• Perform specific sampling duties including preparation and processing of samples as well as separation processes for mixtures of liquids and solids
• Perform cleaning and concentration processes such as
  • Distilling
  • Extracting
  • Evaporating
  • Chromatography
  • Potentiometry
  • Conductometry
• Use titrimetric, volumetric, and gravimetric methods
• Use instrumental and electroanalytical methods such as
  • Photometry
  • Chromatography
  • Potentiometry
  • Conductometry
  • Electrophoresis
• Set up and conduct experiments, extractions, tests, and analyses, using techniques such as
  • Chromatography
  • Spectroscopy
  • Physical or chemical separation techniques
  • Microscopy
  • Electrophoresis
• Determine the structures of organic and inorganic compounds
• Use synthesis techniques for organic, inorganic and polymer synthesis
• Prepare chemical solutions for products or processes, following standardized formulae, or create experimental formulae
• Take account of the need for validation of analytical procedures, methods, and instrumentation, including the use of suitable sampling methods.

The individual needs to know and understand:

• The rules relating to record keeping, traceability and confidentiality
• Procedures for maintaining the security of records, in all forms used
• The capabilities of software for recording and displaying data
• Processes for ensuring the accuracy of information
• The implications of error and inaccuracy
• The required methods for referencing and citations

The individual shall be able to:

• Log and document laboratory work, including by using given house style, IT and statistical methods
• Process and collate digital information from automated digital machines
• Produce reliable, accurate data
• Present the results of laboratory work and problem solving clearly and concisely in written and oral form
• Write technical reports, using graphs and charts as appropriate
• Check own work for codification, categorization, calculations, tabulations, and completeness
• Acknowledge errors, inaccuracies, and shortcomings promptly
• Arrange for information or data to be verified or audited
• Archive documentation

The individual needs to know and understand:

• Principles of quality management
• Applications of quality management to production processes
• Mathematical and statistical techniques used in analysis of scientific data
• The nature, probabilities, sources, and types of errors
• Principles and methods for quality control
• Principles and applications for continuous improvement
• The physiological implications of the work role

The individual shall be able to:

• Maintain efficient kinaesthetic and fine motor skills
• Apply personal techniques for sustained attentiveness and focus
• Follow procedures to meet the workplace's quality standards
• Analyse, interpret, and evaluate data and identify results requiring further investigation
• Evaluate information to determine compliance with standards
• Work autonomously within the parameters of the work role
• Identify the meaning of outputs from the analytical techniques used and assess their importance
• Use correct computational, statistical, and mathematical methods or formulae to solve problems
• Identify by analysis the underlying principles, reasons, or facts determining results

The individual needs to know and understand:

• Principles and applications of scientific rules and methods to solve problems
• Principles for critical thinking and complex problem solving
• The scope and limits of their role and one's understanding and expertise in relation to problem solving

The individual shall be able to:

• Recognize when there is either a problem or the likelihood of a problem
• Identify or detect patterns within larger and distracting material
• Apply suitable scientific methods to identify causes and achieve solutions
• Use logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems by, for example:
  • Applying general rules to specific issues to produce reasonable conclusions
  • Combining pieces of information to form reasonable conclusions or rules
• Use creative thinking and problem solving to challenge assumptions, innovate, make new proposals, and build on existing ideas
• Seek advice from senior colleagues as appropriate
• Make recommendations for improved workflows or scientific solutions
• Support new investigations and follow-up experiments for routine and non-routine analytical tasks
• Take responsibility for personal development, demonstrating commitment to learning and self-improvement

The individual needs to know and understand:

• The interdisciplinary nature of science
• The role of applied chemistry in scientific developments
• The growing impact of digitization
• The growing importance of sustainability
• New ethical concerns derived from new possibilities

The individual shall be able to:

• Install, commission and test automated laboratory systems
• Install and configure programs
• Develop simple programs
• Switch on, switch off and operate automated laboratory systems
• Optimize and implement adjustments and changes to automated laboratory systems
• Maintain and service automated laboratory systems
• Systematically search, localize, and eliminate faults, defects, and malfunctions on automated laboratory systems
• Respond appropriately to change and change management processes

CCV de Colombia

Jesuús Acedo, Service Manager

Thermo Fisher Scientific

Hung Duong, Scientist