Are there any lab scientists on here I can ask advice from?

[unhappylab]

I recently started in a brand new laboratory and I'm really struggling with it. My colleagues are also new and they keep making mistakes. For example, one saved a data file with the wrong name meaning all the data was incorrect and the experiment had to be repeated. Another one uploaded the wrong data for an experiment so it all had to get redone. Another one broke some equipment. This was all within the same day. Coupled with the normal mistakes people tend to make in a new lab, we are on thin ice.

I've not made any major mistakes like that, only little things so far thank goodness like I disinfected a surface that had already been cleaned so not a big deal. However, I am terrified of making any mistakes because I know there is no room for error anymore and we are on thin ice. There is also no proof who does what so in my manager's eyes we as a team are making the mistakes rather than certain individuals. I'm so stressed out and upset by the whole situation and don't know what to do.

I have been trying to cross-check everything my colleagues are doing but they are more laid back than me and say things like "it's fine, we don't need to check I know I did X correctly". They will do things against protocol despite me telling them they shouldn't. I feel responsible and accountable for everything they do as their errors are my errors as we are a team.

Does anyone have any advice?

They sound ridiculous. How can all those serious errors occur in one day. Its not your responsibility to check on your colleagues or to take responsibility if they make errors or work against protocol. Its the managers job and the company that employ you all to make sure the staff are trained, supported, supervised and competent to do the job they are being paid to do.
What sort of lab is it, is it private or governmental run. Whats your position there.

Considering the training ect required, id expect staff to be more careful, and more engaged instead of acting like university students, making rookie errors.

We are still technically in training although we aren't really been trained, we were just shown how to do the procedure once.

My main concern is there is no proof who did what, so my manager has no idea or proof that I didn't make any of the errors so I look like I'm incompetent and performing badly.

Don't you have SOPs for equipment and experiments?

If so, ask if you can have a hard copy by the equipment so it's easy to refer to.

There are not SOPs yet as it's all brand new.

I’m not a lab scientist, but the answer is checklists, and lots of them.

And duplication.

@unhappylab

We are still technically in training although we aren't really been trained, we were just shown how to do the procedure once.

My main concern is there is no proof who did what, so my manager has no idea or proof that I didn't make any of the errors so I look like I'm incompetent and performing badly.

What about compiling logs on whos doing what tasks and projects , or a method of keeping a paper trail for any progress and tasks completed but also as a way to know who was doing which task ?

Are you uni students or employed by the lab. Surely If youre all in training you should be working under supervision.

Honestly, unless it's your job to come up with new procedures (and you know what you're doing), I'd very seriously consider saying that you don't want to work without SOPs in place. Or you want a week with no results-driven work to write SOPs.

Have a chat to the health and safety supervisor. And have a read up on Stop The Job policy.

I am a university academic who is a chemist.

There is a problem, in science everything is supposed to be traceable, if people are doing work they need to know who did what, when and how.

The problem is that if something goes wrong or goes right we need to know everything about it. Depending on what you will do with the result the need for documentation will vary a little. If you expect the results of your work to end up in court or to be something of interest to a regulatory body you need to be more careful.

If I was you i would want to document clearly my work so that people know who did what, then both when things work and when tings fail we will know who did them, using what equipment, which methods and with what materials.

For example if you use Lawesson's reagent the stuff that Aldrich sold in the 1990s was dire, it needed to be recrystallized before use. If you were using the reagent it is important to say if you made it your self (how did you do it), if you used commercial stuff (where did you buy it from) or if you cleaned up some commercial product.

Also it is important to include all the details of the protocols you invent yourself as if you leave out some details it might make it impossible for others to repeat your work. Then your name will be cursed for the rest of time as one of my bosses said.

Ideally, you should work according to SOPs, each procedure should be documented so that it's clear who did what and when, and you should report any incidents that occur according to the local policy.

However, it's not clear what kind of lab you're working within - I've worked within academic research labs and accredited diagnostic labs, and they're really different (what I've said above refers to diagnostic labs).

That's true, I was talking about industry as well.

If you're in a university lab, go and find a post-doc and ask for help!

We are not students, we are employees.

I have not made any errors but I know when learning a new protocol mistakes will be made, but I feel like because of how bad my colleagues have been there is no room for me to make any kind of tiny mistake anymore so I feel like I need to be 100% perfect from now on, which really isn't possible as no matter how much concentration and double-checking I do mistakes happen as we are only human.

I hold myself to high standards and work well. I double check everything and keep a checklist of what I need to do and I have some notes that I refer to. I have been working there for a while and have a good reputation but I feel like ever since joining this new lab my reputation has just gone to shreds.

When my manager brought up all the mistakes my colleagues were just silent. I apologised on behalf of us all even though they were not my mistakes and then mentioned a few things I think would help prevent the mistakes occurring again in the future.

I'm dreading Monday.

Dont apologise for your colleagues mistakes. Everyone needs to take responsibility and your manager needs to individually supervise the staff.

Are you a supervisor? Or are you at the same level to your colleagues?
If same level, wait for your colleagues to explain themselves. Do not apologise for them.
If supervisor, go to talk to your manager about writing the procedures for the analysis. And analysis logs, with the analyst signature, date and time.
And stop overthinking. If you have not done anything wrong, then you do not have to worry, at all.
Your problem here was that you did not wait for either your colleagues to own their mistakes, or for your manager to find out what happened. Next time, keep quiet.

I think you should go and speak to your manager and raise your concerns now. You should all be following SOPs, every procedure should be traceable, any mistake should be reported as a non conformance/exception and followed up by a risk assessment and corrective/preventative measure. No one at this stage should feel like they're on 'thin ice' you should be working in a no blame environment to encourge honest and open reporting of errors.

The staff don't sound well trained or supported. What are the training protocols? Our staff have to observe and be observed doing every procedure 10 times before we can be signed off. Is your lab MHRA regulated?

Why are the data in the file made wrong because the file had wrong name?

No, I'm not a supervisor. I think I need to talk to my manager but I couldn't yesterday as I knew that I would just burst into tears. My manager was really stern with us all. My colleagues ended up, to some extent, owning up to the big mistakes so I am hoping my manager has thought about it and realised it wasn't all of us.

I also feel frustrated because we are meant to be being trained. So far training has consisted of our manager showing us everything once and then we've been left to it. I don't expect to be hand held through it or anything but if mistakes are being made it does suggest that we need more support or guidance.

@peanu

Why are the data in the file made wrong because the file had wrong name?

Because the wrong data file was then opened on the software for analysis, it's hard to describe.