7 Tips for Arranging your Lab Bench

Scientists often spend numerous hours at their lab bench every day. Keeping your lab bench arranged and uncluttered with instruments and reagents readily accessible will increase your lab efficiency. Experts on medical laboratory supplies offer these tips for managing your lab bench.

Keep tips and pipettes within your reach

It can be valuable to keep pipettes on a shelf on the flank of your dominant hand and stow boxes of tips within arm’s distance on the rear of the bench on the same side. Keep your primary needs on your work surface and stow extra boxes elsewhere. Keep garbage cans on the same side as your predominant hand to eject tips conveniently.

Strategic solution storage

Keep solutions you utilize every day on your non-dominant side. Store solutions you utilize less often and restock solutions on your shelves. You should aliquote stock reagents to reduce the chance of polluting the source. Be sure to mark everything with contents, the date it was aliquoted or opened, and the applicable expiration date.

Keep your lab notebooks off the central workspace.

Keep lab notebooks away from your immediate workspace to evade damage from spills.

Create defined spaces for general supplies

Specify dedicated space within your lab to keep general supplies, so you always know where to find items like scissors, calculators, wipes, markers, and additional needs. Collect several rolls of diverse colored tape to hold with your supplies for color-coding bottles and tubes.

Categorize lab supplies based on usage

Hold commonly employed tubes and racks in readily accessible locations like on the shelf immediately facing you or in the middle back part of your bench. Store various items that you use less than every day on shelves or outside areas of your central workspace. Categorize them according to experiment type to quickly access whatever you need when it is time to utilize it.

Label, label, label

After you have decided on the best storage space for your needs, label your cabinets and shelves so you and your lab associates know exactly where instruments and reserves should go. Then make a concerted effort to place everything back in its home once you have disinfected it appropriately.

Perform regular audits

Audit your lab bench every few months for the best results. Then, stock up on any required supplies and move supplies to shelves or higher up on shelves if you haven’t utilized them in the last six months. This will help you create room for materials you use more frequently and keep your lab bench area more convenient and functional.

The physical configuration of your lab bench can have a significant effect on your efficiency in the lab. Every extra effort and few seconds of time will add up. Use these tips for managing your lab bench to help boost your efficiency. Contact us today if you need medical laboratory supplies. We are here to make the world a better place, one client at a time!