Review of Best Practices for an Environmental Laboratory

Key TakeawaysTalent acquisition and retention will be major industry challenges in the future, so water and wastewater utilities must focus on recruitment.When hiring, education and experience should be considered without one being exclusive of the other, while internal and external candidates bring different advantages to job positions.Programs for continuous improvement and professional development, including mentorship opportunities, are key to fostering a thriving workforce culture in environmental laboratories.

Section: Preparing For a Water‐secure Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

Developing an Effective Environmental Laboratory Workforce

Adams,

Reyes,

Ganegoda

et al. 2024

“…Team members who feel supported, included, and valued are more likely to be engaged, energized, and focused (Adams et al 2022a). Part of creating that culture in any organization involves building effective programs that include succession and growth plans to support team members.…”

Section: Immediate Industry Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The goal of nontargeted analysis is to characterize the chemical composition of samples to detect and identify unknown contaminants (Adams & Holloway 2023). Scientists often have an idea of what to expect in certain types of samples, but there is a growing need to determine if other contaminants are present.…”

Section: Immediate Industry Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Future Workforce of the Environmental Laboratory

Adams¹,

Morin²,

Holloway³

et al. 2023

Self Cite

Key Takeaways The environmental laboratory workforce is aging out and needs creative solutions to recruit and retain skilled staff to perform physical, microbial, chemical, and radiological tests. There are immediate needs for chemists to work in radiochemistry and to conduct analyses for per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances and other contaminants of emerging concern. Promoting the water and wastewater industry and developing the industry workforce require education through public outreach, internships, fellowships, and citizen science.

“…Sometimes standards prepared in the laboratory may not necessarily include hazard statements and pictograms, but they should include additional info, such as identifier, expiration date, and lot number (Adams et al 2022). The pictograms illustrate the types of hazards an analyst or operator may face and serve as reminders of PPE requirements.…”

Section: Chemistry Laboratoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Utility laboratories along with state and commercial environmental laboratories must have robust safety programs. These programs, which reduce risk to laboratory staff, equipment, and facilities, establish formal policies and procedures that meet certain basic criteria but that are also specific to each individual laboratory (Adams et al 2022). This article explores this topic and presents the consensus of AWWA's Water Quality Laboratory Committee (WQLC) on the essentials of laboratory safety programs.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratory Safety Program Fundamentals

Adams,

Chapman,

Reyes

et al. 2023

Self Cite

Key TakeawaysAn effective laboratory safety program focuses on preventing harm by reducing risks to staff and the laboratory itself.All laboratory safety programs should include documentation and training, safety data sheets, personal protective equipment, emergency shower/eyewash, fire safety, and first aid.Safety programs should address the specific analysis, such as microbiology or hazardous chemicals present.Operations laboratories should also have safety programs, even if they only perform process control testing.