-
Asked by Eryn on 26 Jun 2024. This question was also asked by ekleen.
Question: What is the lab environment like?
- Keywords:
-
Eleftheria Stavridou answered on 26 Jun 2024:
Labs are highly organised with designated areas for different types of work, such as sample preparation, analysis, and data recording. We follow strict protocols to ensure accuracy and safety. These might include Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) or specific industry standards. We wear lab coats, gloves, goggles, and sometimes masks are mandatory to protect ourselves and others.
Working in a lab environment can be an exciting and rewarding experience
-
Karen Adler answered on 8 Jul 2024:
Depends! I’ve worked in microbiology labs, so sometimes they’re a bit smelly (infections don’t smell nice) but you get used to it really quickly. Sometimes labs can be really warm, or really cold, depending on the kind of work you do and whether the lab has money for an AC. You can’t eat or drink in a microbiology (you reaaaally don’t want bacteria in your water bottle or lunch!!!!) but I’ve always had a nice little break room nearby with a lounge/kitchen area where we can heat up lunch or have a snack and chill for breaks. You usually have your own area to work, sometimes it’s a certain job’s desk and it’s yours on the days you work (for example, in a hospital where the lab works 24/7, it will be a “Wound Infection” station and different people work there at different times), and sometimes it’s just yours (more common in a university research lab). But that’s only my experience, labs in different places can be very different, and a physics lab is SUPER different to an infection lab 🙂
Comments
sophiep commented on :
I work in a special type of lab called a cleanroom, where you have to wear a special outfit that covers you from head to toe, to stop any dust or particles getting into the room. In the cleanroom there are lots of different types of equipment, including chemical processing stations, big furnace ovens, and tools to grow different types of materials. To make sure that all our experiments work every time, we have air conditioning so the temperature and humidity in the lab is always the same. This means that in winter when it is very cold, or in the summer when it is very hot, I like to go to the cleanroom because the temperature is always comfortable!