TABLE OF CONTENTS If you are planning to do some analysis yourself there are several steps that you need to take before you start work in the laboratory.
Having discussed with the responsible person in the laboratory what it is that you want or expect from the laboratory facilities, you must come to an agreement over what activities you will do yourself, how much supervision you will need and what work the laboratory is required to do for you. Charges, if any, must be agreed and approved in advance. The level of charges will inevitably have some effect upon the decisions made about the work that can be done and who is to do it.
Once you have settled these decisions, then:
Check with the laboratory staff when it is possible or convenient for you to do the analytical work.
Make sure you know the procedure that you will follow and ask the laboratory to give you a copy of it.
Note the reagents and equipment required and ask the staff if they are all available they may need to be ordered before the work can begin.
It may be necessary to book an instrument to ensure that it is available for you when you need it.
Know your chemicals: it can be very easy to confuse one chemical with another, especially if their names and packaging are similar. Also, the same compound may have different forms for example it may be an anhydrous powder or hydrated crystals. Mistakes at this...
