Elements and Performance Criteria

RANGE STATEMENT
The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included.
Codes of practice
Where reference is made to industry codes of practice, and/or Australian/international standards, it is expected the latest version will be used
Standards, codes, procedures and/or enterprise requirements
Standards, codes, procedures and/or enterprise requirements may include:
Australian and international standards such as:
AS 1678 Emergency procedure guide - Transport
AS 2252 Biological safety cabinets
AS ISO 17025-2005 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories
AS/NZS 2243 Set:2006 Safety in laboratories set
AS/NZS 2982.1:1997 Laboratory design and construction - General requirements
AS/NZS 4187:2003 Cleaning, disinfecting and sterilising reusable medical and surgical instruments and equipment, and maintenance of associated environments in health care facilities
AS/NZS 4501 Set:2008 Occupational clothing set
AS/NZS ISO 14000 Set:2005 Environmental management standards set
Australian code of good manufacturing practice for medicinal products (GMP)
Australian Dangerous Goods Code
Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) Export Control (Orders) Regulations 1982
Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) Import Guidelines
Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) Codes of Practice
calibration and maintenance schedules
enterprise recording and reporting procedures
equipment manuals and warranties, supplier catalogues and handbooks
equipment startup, operation and shutdown procedures
gene technology regulations
guide to physical containment levels and facility types
material safety data sheets (MSDS)
material, production and product specifications
National Code of Practice for the labelling of workplace substances (NOHSC:2012 (1994))
national environment protection measures
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Guidelines
national measurement regulations and guidelines
OHS national standards and codes of practice
principles of good laboratory practice (GLP)
production and laboratory schedules
quality manuals
standard operating procedures (SOPs)
Therapeutic Goods Regulations 1009
Laboratory equipment and instruments
Laboratory equipment and instruments may include:
balances
density bottles, pipettes, burettes and volumetric glassware
thermometers, melting point apparatus, water baths and incubators
optical microscopes, refractometers and polarimeters
conductivity meters and pH meters
ion selective electrodes
autoclaves
mixing and separating equipment, such as centrifuges, rifflers and splitters and mixers
noise meters and blast meters
pressure gauges, torque testers, load cells, strain gauges and tensiometers
disintegration apparatus, penetrometers, hardness testing equipment, viscometers, soil compaction and classification equipment
colorimeters and spectrometers
chromatographic equipment and electrochemical equipment
cell analysers and cell counters
motors, pumps and generators
Basic repairs
Basic repairs may include:
replacement of fuses and reagents and consumables
cleaning and/or replacement of cells, torches and burners
installation, conditioning and removal of columns for gas chromatographs (packed and capillary) and liquid chromatographs (columns and guard columns)
changing injection port ferrules
connecting gas supplies
maintaining syringes/injection equipment
cleaning detectors
appropriate storage of columns and other equipment not currently in use
changing detectors (for gas liquid and liquid chromatographs)
optimising nebulisers
replacement of lamps
realignment of components
replacement of hoses and belts
replacement or top up of oils, lubricants or coolants
basic electrical checks involving simple digital multimeters
Calibration status/qualification checks
Calibration status/qualification checks may include:
matching cells (for dual beam instruments)
checks for monochromator wavelength and photometric accuracy
checks for baseline flatness and stray light
checks on electrode performance
checking sensitivity
injection/use of standard mixtures
comparison with manufacturer's specifications/ chromatogram
use of standard masses and solutions
use of calibrated thermometers and glassware to assess instrument/component performance
Hazards
Hazards may include:
electric shock
chemicals, such as acids and cleaning agents
fluids under pressure, such as steam and industrial gases
sharps, such as broken glassware
sources of heat, such as burners, ovens and furnaces
manual handling of heavy equipment
crushing, entanglement and cuts associated with moving machinery
Safety procedures
Safety procedures may include:
use of personal protective equipment, such as hearing protection, gloves, safety glasses, coveralls and safety boots
ensuring access to service shut-off points
handling and storing hazardous materials and equipment in accordance with labels, MSDS, manufacturer's instructions, enterprise procedures and regulations
following appropriate manual handling procedures
regular cleaning of equipment and work areas
machinery guards
signage, barriers and service isolation tags
lockout and tag-out procedures
Occupational health and safety (OHS) and environmental management requirements
OHS and environmental management requirements:
all operations must comply with enterprise OHS and environmental management requirements, which may be imposed through state/territory or federal legislation - these requirements must not be compromised at any time
all operations assume the potentially hazardous nature of samples and require standard precautions to be applied
where relevant, users should access and apply current industry understanding of infection control issued by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and State and Territory Departments of Health

EVIDENCE GUIDE
The Evidence Guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package.

Overview of assessment

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit
Assessors should ensure that candidates can:
perform routine maintenance safely
determine whether an item of equipment/instrument is in correct working order
locate and rectify basic faults
recognise the need for specialist servicing and/or repairs
conduct calibration status/qualification checks
obtain instrument/equipment readings with the required accuracy and precision
follow all relevant OHS requirements
follow enterprise recording and reporting procedures.

Context of and specific resources for assessment
This unit of competency is to be assessed in the workplace or simulated workplace environment.
This unit of competency may be assessed with relevant:
relevant MSL974000 series units of competency
relevant MSL975000 series units of competency.
Resources may include:
laboratory equipped with appropriate equipment and calibration standards
SOPs, calibration and maintenance schedules and procedures.

Method of assessment
The following assessment methods are suggested:
review of maintenance records and equipment/instrument logbooks completed by the candidate
observation of the candidate performing serviceability and calibration/qualification checks and routine maintenance
feedback from peers and supervisors
oral or written questioning.
In all cases, practical assessment should be supported by questions to assess underpinning knowledge and those aspects of competency which are difficult to assess directly.
Where applicable, reasonable adjustment must be made to work environments and training situations to accommodate ethnicity, age, gender, demographics and disability.
Access must be provided to appropriate learning and/or assessment support when required.
The language, literacy and numeracy demands of assessment should not be greater than those required to undertake the unit of competency in a work like environment.

This competency in practice
Industry representatives have provided the case studies below to illustrate the practical application of this unit of competency and to show their relevance in a workplace setting.
Manufacturing
Starting materials used in manufacturing are often white powders. Infrared spectroscopy is used to positively identify many materials. Two compounds are one and the same if their spectra match in all respects (the position and relative intensity of the absorption bands). For example, if the spectra of a white powder matches the spectra of caffeine, the technician can be sure that the white powder is caffeine, provided that the spectrometer has been correctly maintained and calibrated. The technician routinely checks this using a standard polystyrene film.
Food processing
Technicians in a NATA certified laboratory must do regular checks to ensure that laboratory equipment, such as balances, refractometers and spectrometers are calibrated and in working order. Balances are routinely checked using calibrated masses and appropriate documented methods to ensure that they are weighing within the correct tolerances. If the balance is out of specification, the technician follows appropriate procedures to correct this and/or notifies the manufacturer to arrange for the balance to be serviced.
Food processing
A technical assistant in the quality control laboratory of a fruit canning company is required to maintain and operate a range of equipment, including a pH meter. Canned pears, for example, are routinely checked for pH to ensure safe heat processing. While checking the calibration of the pH meter with the standard buffer solutions, the assistant identified that stable pH readings could not be obtained. On closer inspection, they found that the pH probe was damaged and reported the problem to the supervisor. The probe was replaced and the meter was re-checked in readiness for routine testing.
Biomedical
Technical assistants are quite often involved in routine collections and culturing of cells. Bacterial cells are often cultured and grown to large populations in order to provide material from which to extract biological materials. A quick method of determining when the cell growth has yielded enough cells is to determine the absorbance of the cell culture by measuring absorbance at 600 nm. An absorbance of 1 to 1.5 will give a good cell harvest. This method relies on the assistant being able to perform calibration checks on an ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) spectrometer.