Working Conditions
Primary work environment is divided between field and laboratory settings. Incumbents will be exposed to unpleasant sights and odors as well as dangerous chemicals, human body parts, body fluids, and other biological hazards. Incumbents will also be exposed to extreme weather conditions. Incumbents may be required to work overtime, and evening, weekend, and holiday shifts, call-back, and perform stand-by (on-call) duty.
Environment
Environment
- Crime lab analysts normally do their work indoors, in laboratories. Sometimes, however, they may be required to go on the field to collect samples as proper collection and storage methods are important for protecting evidence. Their working laboratory will have computers, electronic measuring equipment and traditional experimental apparatus for analyzing evidence.
- For the most part, crime lab analysts work a normal eight-hour shift during normal business hours (9am to 5pm). Sometimes, if evidence requires it, crime lab analysts may be required to work irregular hours to monitor experiments. They may also be called in to the scene of a crime to collect evidence, which may occur at any time of the day or night.
- Crime lab analysts may be exposed to equipment, chemical and toxic hazards while running experiments on the collected evidence. As such, they may be required to wear protective equipment while on the job. Along with lab hazards, crime lab analysts may be exposed to disease-causing organisms, human fluids and firearms. As with other hazards, there are safety precautions in the lab to ensure there is little risk to crime lab analysts while they are at work.
- Crime lab analysts work primarily for state and local governments. As of 2008, there were 12,800 forensic science technician jobs in the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. This field is expected to grow 20 percent through 2018 due to state and local governments increasing their use of forensic science techniques like DNA analysis to examine, solve and prevent crime.ties