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Elements and Performance Criteria

1. Perform set-up and pre-use checks of laboratory equipment
   • Perform laboratory equipment set-up and pre-use checks in accordance with workplace procedures
   • Perform safety checks in accordance with relevant workplace and instrumental procedures
   • Identify faulty or unsafe components and equipment and report to appropriate personnel
   • Complete equipment log books/records to meet workplace requirements
2. Perform calibration checks
   • Start up equipment according to operating procedures
   • Use specified standards for calibration check
   • Check equipment in accordance with calibration procedures and schedules
   • Record all calibration data accurately and legibly
   • Compare data with specifications and/or previous records to identify non-compliant equipment
   • Quarantine out-of-calibration equipment
3. Assist with equipment maintenance
   • Ensure all equipment work areas are clean during and after equipment use
   • Perform basic maintenance in accordance with workplace procedures
   • Clean and store equipment according to workplace and/or manufacturer's specifications/procedures
   • Identify and replace, repair or dispose of damaged/worn equipment as appropriate
4. Maintain records
   • Record and report information on unsafe or faulty equipment according to workplace procedures

Range Statement

This field allows for different work environments and conditions that may affect performance. Essential operating conditions that may be present (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) are included.
Standards, codes, procedures and/or workplace requirements	Standards, codes, procedures and/or workplace requirements include the latest version of one or more of: Australian and international standards covering the requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories, laboratory safety and quality management national work health and safety (WHS) standards and codes of practice, national measurement regulations and guidelines industry specific codes, regulations and guidelines, such as good laboratory practice (GLP) workplace documents, such as standard operating procedures (SOPs), quality and equipment manuals, calibration check and maintenance schedules, material safety data sheets (MSDS) and safety procedures, material, production and product specifications, production and laboratory schedules, workplace recording and reporting procedures, and waste minimisation and safe disposal procedures
Typical equipment	Typical equipment includes, but is not limited to, one or more of: balances; glassware; plastic ware; glass, plastic and quartz cuvettes, pipettes, burettes and volumetric glassware blending, mixing and separating equipment, such as sieves and centrifuges autoclaves, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers, ovens, hotplates, mantles, burners and muffle furnaces, microwave ovens, ultrasonic cleaners, incubators and water baths, and gas cylinders fume hoods, biohazard containers and biological safety cabinets microtomes and tissue processors, cell counters and staining machines colorimeters/spectrometers and polarimeters, light and fluorescence microscopes thermometers, thermohygrographs, hydrometers, conductivity meters and pH meters and ion-selective electrodes, noise meters, melting point apparatus, viscometers and instrument chart recorders steel ruler/tapes and spirit levels, shovels, scoops, plates, rods, cylinder moulds and buckets rifflers and splitters and mixers, compaction rammers and soil classification equipment, penetrometers, force measuring equipment and tensiometers, and hardness testing equipment
WHS and environmental management requirements	WHS and environmental management requirements include: · complying with WHS and environmental management requirements at all times, which may be imposed through state/territory or federal legislation. These requirements must not be compromised at any time · applying standard precautions relating to the potentially hazardous nature of samples accessing and applying current industry understanding of infection control issued by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and State and Territory Departments of Health, where relevant

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Performance Evidence

Evidence of competence in this unit must satisfy all of the requirements of the elements and performance criteria, and include demonstration of:

performing set-up and pre-use checks for at least three (3) items of equipment

recognising non-standard behaviour of equipment

performing calibration checks for at least two (2) items of basic equipment using standard procedures

obtaining reliable calibration data with the required accuracy and precision

identifying non-compliant equipment by comparing calibration data with specifications and/or previous data records

following workplace data recording and reporting procedures

performing basic cleaning and/or maintenance tasks for at least three (3) items of equipment

following all relevant work health and safety (WHS) and environmental management requirements.

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Knowledge Evidence

Must provide evidence that demonstrates knowledge of:

role and importance of regular calibration checks and maintenance of equipment

function of key components of the equipment and details of the pre-use, calibration and safety checks and operating procedures for items of equipment used

sources of uncertainty in equipment operation and their control

basic equipment cleaning, maintenance and storage procedures for items of equipment used

workplace procedures for recording data and reporting results

relevant hazards, WHS and environmental management requirements.

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