Why a checklist before every lab
A forensic science bench has real hazards, and a careless step can contaminate the very evidence a case depends on. Simulated blood is handled as a biohazard, an alternate-light source can strain unprotected eyes, and a piece of evidence touched with a bare hand is a piece of evidence compromised. A pre-lab checklist is not bureaucracy — it is the routine that makes safe, careful, prepared work automatic, so that on the day an analysis goes sideways the student's hands already know what to do.
It also does something quieter: it forces the student to arrive ready. The most dangerous lab partner is the one who skimmed the procedure in the hallway. This checklist closes that gap. Print one for every session, work top to bottom, and do not pick up a single piece of evidence until the last box is checked.
The goal is not to follow rules. It is to walk to the bench already knowing the hazards, the steps, and the result you expect.
1 — Safety
Nothing below this section happens until everything in it is done. No exceptions, every lab, every time.
- Eye protection on — over the eyes, not pushed up on the forehead, especially when using the alternate-light source.
- Gloves on, correct size, no holes — and changed between evidence items to avoid cross-contamination; sleeves down and long hair tied back.
- Closed-toe shoes and a lab coat or apron; no loose clothing over the evidence bench.
- Simulated blood and biological samples treated as biohazards — handling, cleanup, and disposal steps reviewed before starting.
- Work surface cleaned and covered — a fresh bench paper down so evidence is never set on a contaminated surface.
- Handwashing station, first-aid kit, and biohazard disposal located — you know where each one is before you start.
- Disposal containers identified — you know exactly where each used sample and biohazard item goes.
2 — Setup
With safety confirmed, build the bench so the work flows without scrambling mid-analysis.
- The full procedure read end to end — not skimmed — so you know what step comes next.
- All tools gathered — hand lens, microscope, calipers, fingerprint kit — clean and laid out in order of use.
- The right instrument — hand lens, comparison microscope, or calipers — selected to match the precision the step requires.
- Camera or phone ready for scale photos, with a ruler or scale marker; you know which measurements you need to record and to what precision.
- Evidence items located, labels and case numbers double-checked against the log, and seals confirmed intact.
- Alternate-light source, chromatography setup, or blood-typing kit prepared safely — the bench clear of anything that could contaminate a sample.
- Case notebook open to a fresh, dated page with the title and question already written.
3 — Readiness: the pre-lab questions
This is the section that separates a technician from an analyst. Before the first measurement, the student should be able to answer these in writing — in the case notebook, in their own words.
- What is the question? State, in one sentence, what this analysis is trying to find out or determine.
- What is the forensic science? Write the principle or method the analysis depends on — the class vs. individual characteristics you'll compare, or the test you'll run.
- What is my expectation? A specific, honest expectation of what the evidence might show — and, just as important, what it will not be able to prove on its own.
- What am I recording, and how? Name every observation and measurement you will record, and how you will note its uncertainty.
- What could go wrong? Identify the one or two steps most likely to introduce error or contamination, and how you will prevent them.
- What does success look like? Know, before you begin, what a reasonable result would be — so an implausible conclusion raises a flag at the bench, not a week later.
A student who answers all six is not guessing their way through a procedure — they are running an analysis they understand, with a result they can already roughly anticipate. That is exactly the readiness the case-notebook entry is built to capture, and the kind of preparation a lab defense is designed to reward.