Upgrading fumehoods, laboratory furniture and purchasing autosamplers for the NMR service to enhance accessibility
This is a proactive decision by the department to make their labs as accessible as possible for future students and staff.
A chemistry department in a university has introduced height-adjustable fumehoods and lab furniture (benches, sinks) in their first-year undergraduate teaching laboratory and in some research labs. This is a proactive decision by the department to make their labs as accessible as possible for future students and staff, and the change was accommodated within a three-year timeframe for lab renovations. There is a high volume of use in first year chemistry labs, with 250 students each year. There have also been changes in safety protocols, meaning that height-adjustable functions are now expected for top-rated fumehoods to accommodate any type of chemistry. Renovation plans for second and third year undergraduate laboratories will also incorporate adjustable fumehoods and furniture to improve accessibility.
Central funding from the university has also enabled the purchase of new automatic autosamplers for the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) service which permits sample loading without needing to use ladders. This was initiated to help a member of NMR staff with mobility issues, but will also help to improve accessibility more generally.
For the NMR automatic autosamplers, a detailed business case had to be provided to the university. The cost was significant, because the equipment needed to fit the existing high-specification instrument. However, there are significant health and safety benefits as well as improved accessibility with the new autosamplers, as it is intrinsically lower-risk than staff using a ladder whilst carrying glassware.
We were keen to make our labs as accessible as possible for a wide range of students and staff including those with mobility difficulties. These changes will accommodate those with short term mobility limitations e.g. a sporting injury in addition to widening participation to those with more longer-term disabilities.