Automation is Becoming More Popular

Automation in the workplace is becoming increasingly prevalent. Laboratories are no exception to this push towards technological solutions for age old problems. There are many advantages to investing in a robotic laboratory aid, the foremost of which is the health and safety of the human staff. Automated assistants can help with repetitive tasks and reduce exposure to harsh or dangerous chemicals. This can significantly increase production and help reduce the number of injuries, which means they’ll eventually pay for themselves. With the variety of tasks able to be performed by such aids growing every day, it will soon be more common than not to see automation in use across the globe. Many companies and laboratories are recognizing the advantages to including more automation in their processes and procedures.

Increases Task Efficiency

Automation can not only alleviate the strain of repeated pipetting or sampling, but also allow for tasks to be completed faster and in larger quantities than a single person can handle. By reducing the strain on workers, the human component will stay more alert and be less prone to costly mistakes or duplicate tests. This could mean that more accurate results are delivered more quickly than before, and that can save time and money for everyone. The use of robotics and automation to alleviate repetitive tasks from workers can be compared to the automotive industry, where assembly lines have been almost completely automated.

Improve Quality of Life

Beyond ergonomic safety concerns, automation can improve the quality of life for workers handling dangerous chemicals. Working with appropriate protective equipment takes a significant amount of training. Mistakes, though limited by procedural safeguards, are impossible to completely avoid. The best way to reduce this kind of error is to limit human exposure to the hazardous conditions. Automation allows for areas to be safely cleared of hazards before workers enter, as well as working with the chemicals themselves safely and with little to no risk of human exposure. This is especially advantageous when working around chemicals with specific safety handling instructions. For example, there are many beneficial uses for hydrazine, but working with it requires nitrogen padding for safety. By including more automation when working with dangerous chemicals, you will increase the safety of employees and technicians. This is a great advantage when explaining the reasoning behind implementing more technology in your labs and businesses.

Automation technology has advanced the way laboratories work significantly in recent years. Heightened efficiency, safety, and synchronicity are just a few of the advantages provided by automation, robotics or otherwise. By reducing the involvement of the human element, we are able to reduce human error and protect the most important resource in any lab: its workers. Increased safety is one of the greatest benefits that automation has to labs and businesses, and as we continue to implement automation the safety will only increase. Looking forward, we can be sure that automation will play an ever increasing role in safety management of laboratory spaces.