How ergonomic is your pipetting?

Risk Assessment Test

Take this Risk Assessment to determine how important ergonomics is for you and your lab. If you haven't already read about the theory of ergonomics and pipetting, check out our article on ergonomic pipetting!

1. Do you pipette more than 1 hour a day?
2. Do you primarily use a manual pipette (not an electronic pipette)?
3. In your opinion, does your pipette require a lot of force to press the plunger down?
4. Are you using a pipette which requires you to hammer on tips in order to keep them from falling off the pipette?
5. Are you able to electronically eject tips?
6. Do all of your pipettes have finger hooks?
7. Does your pipetting require multiple volume changes per day (more than 10 times)?
8. Do you perform a lot of mixing with your pipette (more than 30 minutes a day)?
9. Do you have chronic pain in your finger, arm, elbow, or hand already (either caused by a non-work related injury or a previous pipetting injury)?
10. Are you able to adjust the height of your chair during pipetting to make the experience more comfortable for you?
11. Do you have to reach more than 1 meter (3 feet) away from your body in order to access everything you need (plates, reservoirs, tips, other pipettes, etc…)?
12. Do you keep your pipette far from your body when pipetting (is your elbow extended more than 45 degrees)?
13. Do you have a footrest?
14. Do you pay attention to your posture when you’re pipetting (back straight, head directly above shoulders, sitting in the middle of your stool/chair)?
15. Does your lab make use of pipetting platforms and/or small robots to help with routine pipette tasks?
16. Do you pipette primarily in a Laminar Flow Cabinet (and therefore have to stretch in uncomfortable positions to pipette)?
17. Do you rotate pipetting tasks within your lab between different people?
18. Do you take regular breaks from pipetting (short pause every 30 minutes or so) ?
19. Have you been trained in your lab on ergonomic pipetting?
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