Involving employees in the lab design process – Infraserv offers workshop on lab equipment

Different expectations come together when building and remodeling laboratories

A new laboratory is a major investment for many companies. Regardless of whether it is a new building or a modernization of an existing facility, many expectations are placed on the new premises. And these expectations can be very different. The management often has completely different aspects in mind than the laboratory management and the employees at the laboratory benches. While the former want to secure the company's business viability for the future, the laboratory management wants to optimize processes or make work as pleasant as possible. To ensure that the new laboratory can meet all these expectations, it is important that the individual parties are given the opportunity to communicate them. This creates understanding for the decisions.

Employee understanding is important for the success of the project

And this understanding is important for the success of the project. This is because such a conversion is usually associated with some restrictions in ongoing operations. During the construction phase, the laboratory can often no longer be used as usual. Employees have to travel further or work has to be done on a “construction site”. This can demand a lot from the employees. Postponed experiments and outsourced production steps require a certain amount of design flexibility from the laboratory management and the management may have to deal with a reduced production output for the duration of the conversion. It is important for all parties to know why the individual conversion measures are necessary and that the investment and waiting time are worthwhile.

Infraserv involves all parties in the design process

While management and laboratory management are heavily involved in the design process in most construction projects, laboratory employees are often neglected. Yet they are the ones who will spend the most time in the new lab once it is completed. That's why Infraserv involves lab staff in the design process early on.

A workshop on laboratory equipment has proven its worth here. In it, lab staff can work with Infraserv's design team to determine where equipment should be located and what furniture or equipment could make daily work in the lab easier. This is less about making fundamental decisions. These were defined in advance together with the management and laboratory management as framework conditions. It is more about the specific design of the laboratory and the premises. In this way, resources can be optimized and employees can help decide how they want to work later.