Introduction
Lab is a simple word used to shorten the word laboratory. It is a place in which experiments are carried out. These experiments include medical, physical and biological experiments (Martin 2004). Research is also done in laboratories. Laboratory equipment is an apparatus used in conducting experiments. Lab equipments vary from one laboratory to the other. Lab equipment integrity means using the equipments in the laboratory in the best way in order to produce accurate data that is used in research and experiments (Melissa 2000).
Objectives
The main objective of making a report on lab equipment integrity is to develop a complete program that provides all information and tools needed to acquire accurate data. The other aim is to improve personnel safety and performance. Integrity in laboratory equipment is also aimed at maximizing reliability. The lab equipments should be reliable in order to prevent any inconveniences caused by failure of these equipments. Improving their reliability will also improve the level of accuracy of the data to be used in conducting experiments. Improving the availability of the lab equipments is another objective that this report needs to achieve.
Improvement in the maintenance of lab equipments is also an important factor that lab equipment seeks to achieve. All lab equipments need to be maintained well in order to increase their life span. Poor maintenance will lead to break down of equipments and this is what lab equipment integrity wants to prevent. Integrity of lab equipments also entails conducting an inspection of equipments in a lab. This is done in order to get information about the productivity of these equipments. It also helps us to note the faulty equipments and whether they need to be upgraded or not. The other objective is to make sure that all corporate and industrial regulations are achieved.
Background
There are many types of equipment in various laboratories. The total number of equipments is about eight hundred. There are various concerns that have affected lab equipment integrity. Firstly, there has been recent equipment failure. This has been due to the use of low quality equipment in the laboratories. Some of these equipments have not been tested well before being brought into use. The failure of equipments has made some experiments to be brought to stand by. This has in turn increased the time needed to conduct a certain research. It has also caused inconveniences to many researchers.
The other major issue of concern is lack of equipment database system. A database system is very important in providing adequate information on the equipments in the laboratory. Due to lack of database system, some equipment gets lost without the knowledge of the lab technician. A database system also helps to keep a good record of all the equipments in a laboratory in computerized form.
Some of the laboratories have lacked qualified engineers to work on the lab equipments. They end up misusing the equipments and using them for the wrong purpose. Unqualified engineers may also not be in a position to know what is harmful and what is not. They may therefore perform activities which may cause danger in the laboratory. The performance of vendors has also been questionable in the recent past. Some vendors sell substandard equipments which are of low quality. Poor performance by the vendors also leads to provision of inefficient equipments in the library.
It is important to have spare parts for the equipments in the laboratory. Therefore, availability of spare parts is another area of major concern in analyzing lab equipment integrity. Some spare parts have not been available in the local market. This has led to an increase in the cost of replacing the worn out equipments. Lack of spare parts may also require the importation of such items and this may be very costly.
The other major issue of concern is the lead time for obtaining spare parts. This time has had a negative effect on the activities that take place in a laboratory. The lead time for obtaining spare parts in the local market should be small. This means that replacement should be done in the quickest time possible. This will help to reduce time wastage caused by large lead time for obtaining spare parts. People should buy equipments which are readily available in the local market.
Contract development process is another issue of major concern in the laboratory. Some equipment is used under various contracts. These contracts may specify the period of time for using this equipment. The major problem here is that the contracts come to an end before the equipments have been fully utilized to complete the required experiments. The management of the laboratory should come up with ways in which the contracts regarding various equipments can be developed in order to improve the utilization of these equipments as well as to intensify experiments made in the laboratories.
Team Members
The team members include individuals who have worked in various laboratories. The total number of the members of the team is ten. All these members have an experience in laboratory management and the use of laboratory equipments. All these members are very conversant with the regulations that should be observed in the laboratories.
Equipment List
Out of the eight hundred equipments in the laboratories, only ten of them were selected. The selection was based on the risks of the various equipments. These equipments include, the PVT system, distillation unit, water flooding system, CT-scan system, and ultra high mercury injection system, thickening time consestometer, ultrasonic compressive strength analyzer, rotating disk apparatus, permeability plugging tester and dynamic filter press. These equipments were selected since they involve a high level of risk. These are equipments that should be handled with utmost care.
Study Methodology
The team has just completed a fact finding phase. This was accomplished within two weeks. This activity took too much time since it involved visiting various laboratories in order to collect adequate data. All the required data was recorded in note books and some pictures were also taken. Analysis of the data was made within one week. Apart from this, the potential problems as well as risks involved were identified.
After analyzing data, internal benchmarking was done. This helped to evaluate the performance of various lab technicians. The equipments of various laboratories were compared to see which ones were of high quality. After this, we came up with proposed recommendations that can help in improving the quality of equipments used in the laboratories. These recommendations also pointed out on how technicians in the laboratories can improve their performance. Once this was done, we came up with developed implementation tools that would act as a road map to implement the proposed recommendations.
SELECTED FOCUS AREAS
The team focused on various areas of interest relating to activities undertaken in laboratories. The following were the areas of focus:
1. Safety
The management of the laboratory contributes a lot in providing safety in the laboratory. Most laboratories have written safety measures that are posted on the walls of the laboratories for the lab users to read them. This has created a lot of awareness among the many lab users. The team made visual inspection to see whether the safety measures in the laboratories were effective.
The team also had interviews with lab users. Some of the lab users were asked the measures which have been put in place in their laboratories to provide safety. Surprisingly, some of the users could not mention even one. For the few who had some knowledge regarding safety measures, they did not know why these measures are so important. Apart from interviewing the lab users, the team was also able to conduct interviews with the lab technicians. They argued that they did their best to educate the lab users on the safety measures in the lab.
Previous inspection reports show that some laboratories had been burnt due to leakage of gas taps. These leakages were unnoticed since there had been shortages in gas. When gas was available in the pipes, it leaked and caused fire. More so, a number of lab users have been affected by acid that has spilled in their bodies. Acid is very reactive and once it gets into contact with sensitive parts of the body, it may cause harm to the body. The team also reviewed the maintenance records of various laboratories. The members of the team also tried to evaluate the training and experience of lab technicians as well as the effectiveness of protective devices.
We also found out that there was no enough training on operating equipments. Some of the users did not know how to operate the lab equipments well. In the laboratories, there was no hazard and operability study done. Despite this, most technicians are JTS certified. The monthly check of the radiometer for radiation check was not performed on all the users of the laboratory.
2. Maintenance
There are various maintenance plans made in various laboratories. Failure risk analysis has not been taken seriously in most laboratories. This is because people think that the equipments in question have less probability of failure. Despite this belief, a couple of laboratories have taken the step to analyze the risk associated with the failure of these equipments. Currently, maintenance service contracts are awarded to companies which have the best reputation in maintaining equipments. The manufacturer usually recommends on the best ways of storing the equipments in the laboratory. The manufacturer also prescribes on the best combination of weather to store the equipments. This is because some equipment is affected a lot by changes in weather.
The other finding from the above analysis is that local vendor support is not satisfactory. This is to mean that the local vendors should be supported in order to provide satisfactory performance in the laboratory. The contract development process is lengthy. This is the reason why some people prefer non-contract equipments to contract equipments. This also shows why the process of contract development has been very challenging to the lab participants. Standard maintenance support is limited. More so, there are no notifications for due PM.
3. Spare Parts
The team reviewed the management of spare parts in the various laboratories. Proper planning on spare parts should be done. This should be done by the management of the laboratory. The purchasing process involves removing some default parts and carrying them to the local market in order to get the desired spare part. The faulty parts are identified and then replaced by the spare parts. The spare parts should be stored in a store, where they are easily assessable.
The services of the vendors should be supported by the participants in the laboratory. The management should allocate a fraction of its budget to the purchase of spare parts. The lab technician should ensure that the spare parts are available in the laboratory. If not, these spare parts should be available in the local market. They should ensure that the critical spare parts are available in the laboratory since without these parts, the equipments will not function at all in case of breakdown of their parts.
The team made some findings about spare parts in laboratories. There is no centralized inventory for spare parts. Spare parts are stored in the labs. This has been the major reason for congestion in the laboratory. The spare parts are purchased through local agents. There is also no record or track of minimum stock. This has led to difficulties in identifying any loss of equipments in the laboratory. Apart from this, some spare parts are shared among different units. Therefore, the spare parts are not enough for all the equipments.
4. Quality Assurance/ Quality Control
Quality control records should be kept in safe custody in order to evaluate the performance of the equipments in the laboratory. Quality assurance should be provided in the laboratory through thorough supervision of new equipment and proper maintenance of existing equipment. The lab technicians should be trained on quality assurance procedures in order to promote quality control in the laboratories. The quality control team should consist of members who are conversant with lab education.
The team members found out that there are no clear guidelines or procedures for quality assurance. These guidelines are important in ensuring that there is quality control in the laboratory. There are no calibration guidelines for all the equipments. Calibration is done unsystematically.
Benchmarking
Abqaiq lab has a centralized store for all parts. The RasTanura lab had chemical inventory and calibration since 2007. It also had a centralized store for spare parts. The Systems, Applications and Products are free while the Laboratory Information Management System has incurred some costs due the payment of licenses. The time frame of the latter is three months while that of the former is not clear. The latter has 15 organizations while the former has 48 organizations.
The Systems, Applications and Products are free and auditable while the Laboratory Information Management System is designed for labs and is user customized. Both of them have been approved. They both have one planner and one store man. Apart from this, they have a help desk and training for support. These systems are both reported using tables, charts and histograms.
Recommendations
The team came up with several recommendations. The library information management system should be used as the electronic tracking system. A centralized spare parts storage facility should be allocated. For critical equipments, maintenance contracts should be developed. Competency should be ensured among the vendor engineers. Operational procedures for all processes should also be developed. Specialized training should be developed for maintenance technicians and HAZOP study should be undertaken for critical equipment. In addition, a frequent medical check for technicians working with mercury or heavy equipments should be introduced. A training program should also be developed for new employees.
HAZOP Technique
This is a technique to identify how a process may deviate from the intended design. The team members came up with the steps involved in this technique. First, list the possible deviations from the normal practice. List all the possible causes of these deviations. Then review the consequences of these deviations. The next step is to review the current safeguards. The final step is to recommend appropriate warnings, procedure, changes or equipment modifications to help ensure safety in case of deviations.
The possible deviations that can be found include high pressure, high temperature, low pressure and low temperature. These deviations are mostly caused by communication failure between the computer and the system. The major consequence of this is the damage of the samples. It is therefore recommended that preventive mechanisms be applied in order to prevent these deviations.
Conclusion
The proposed recommendations should be used in order to improve performance in the laboratories. If these recommendations are implemented, there would be proper use of equipments in the laboratory and this would also improve the accuracy of the samples used in experiments. These recommendations are therefore important in improving lab equipment integrity.
References:
Melissa K, 2000. Lab and its Equipments. Carolina. Bigtime Publishers.
Andrew B, 1999. Lab Fundamentals. Utah. Worthwill Publishers.
Martin J, 2004. Laboratory Integrity. New York. Blade Publishers
