Elements and Performance Criteria

The range of variables relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that will affect performance.
Where reference is made to industry Codes of Practice, and/or Australian/international standards, it is expected the latest version will be used.
This unit of competency describes the work conducted by laboratory technicians who calibrate and maintain a range of laboratory equipment and instruments as part of their job.
All operations must comply with relevant standards, appropriate procedures and/or enterprise requirements.

These procedures include or have been prepared from
Australian and international standards, such as -
AS ISO/IEC 17025 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories
AS/NZS 2243.2 Safety in laboratories - Chemical aspects
AS 2243.6 Safety in laboratories - Mechanical aspects
AS 2243.10 Safety in laboratories - Storage of chemicals
AS 2830 Good laboratory practice
Codes of Practice (such as GLP and GMP)
material safety data sheets (MSDSs)
standard operating procedures (SOPs)
equipment manuals
equipment startup, operation and shutdown procedures
calibration and maintenance schedules
quality manuals
enterprise recording and reporting procedures
production and laboratory schedules
material, production and product specifications.
Laboratory equipment and instruments will depend on the enterprise and the range of testing carried out.

Items of equipment and instruments may include, but are not limited to
balances
density bottles, pipettes, burettes and volumetric glassware
thermometers, melting point apparatus, water baths, incubators
optical microscopes, refractometers, polarimeters
conductivity meters, pH meters
ion selective electrodes
autoclaves
mixing and separating equipment, such as centrifuges, rifflers and splitters, mixers
noise meters and blast meters
pressure gauges, torque testers, load cells, strain guages, tensiometers
disintegration apparatus, penetrometers, hardness testing equipment, viscometers, soil compaction and classification equipment
colorimeters, spectrometers
chromatographic equipment, electrochemical equipment
cell analysers and cell counters
motors, pumps, generators.

Basic repairs may include
replacement of fuses and reagents, consumables
cleaning and/or replacement of cells, torches, 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, belts
replacement or top up of oils, lubricants or coolants
basic electrical checks involving simple digital multimeters.

Calibration status/qualification checks might include, but are not limited to
matching cells (for dual beam instruments)
checks for monochromator wavelength and photometric accuracy
checks for baseline flatness, 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 may include
electric shock
chemicals, such as acids, cleaning agents
fluids under pressure, such as steam, 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 may include
use of personal protective equipment, such as hearing protection, gloves, safety glasses, coveralls, 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, service isolation tags
lockout and tagout procedures.

Health, safety and environment
All operations to which this unit applies are subject to stringent health, safety and environmental (HSE) requirements, which may be imposed through State or Federal legislation, and these must not be compromised at any time. Where there is an apparent conflict between performance criteria and HSE requirements, the HSE requirements take precedence.
All operations assume the potentially hazardous nature of samples and require standard precautions to be applied. Users should access and apply current industry understanding of infection control issued by the National Health and Medical Research Council and State and Territory Departments of Health. All operations are performed in accordance with standard operating procedures.

The Evidence Guide describes the underpinning knowledge and skills that must be demonstrated to prove competence.
Critical aspects of competency

Competency must be demonstrated in the ability to perform consistently at the required standard. In particular, assessors should look to see that the candidate 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.

Underpinning knowledge

Competency includes the ability to apply and explain:

operating principles for equipment/instruments used in routine work
common sources of equipment/instrument faults and their repair
common errors associated with equipment use
role and importance of regular calibration checks
equipment maintenance schedules and procedures
OHS hazards and control measures
enterprise communication and reporting procedures.

Assessment context and methods
This unit of competency is to be assessed in the workplace or simulated workplace environment.

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. Questioning techniques should suit the language and literacy levels of the candidate.

Interdependent assessment of unit
This unit of competency may be assessed with relevant

Resource implications

Resources may include:

laboratory equipped with appropriate equipment and calibration standards
standard operating procedures (SOPs), calibration and maintenance schedules and procedures.

This competency in practice
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.
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.
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.
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 uv-vis spectrometer.

The seven key competencies represent generic skills considered for effective work participation. The bracketed numbering against each of the key competencies indicates the performance level required in this unit. These are stand-alone levels and do not correspond to levels in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).
Level (1) represents the competence to undertake tasks effectively
Level (2) represents the competence to manage tasks
Level (3) represents the competence to use concepts for evaluating and reshaping tasks.
Communicating ideas and information
(2)

Collecting analysing and organising information
(2)

Planning and organising activities
(2)

Working with others and in teams
(2)

Using mathematical ideas and techniques
(2)

Solving problems
(2)

Using technology
(2)