Non-unit-producing activities in a large microbiology laboratory.

Workload measurement systems are used as a guide for the deployment of laboratory human resources. However, many aspects of laboratory staff activities, such as education, quality assurance, and research and development, are not classified as unit-producing activities. Using daily diaries, the amount of time spent on non-unit-producing activities (NUPA) was examined in a microbiology laboratory that is comprised of four sections. Sixty-four technical staff recorded the amount of time spent on each NUPA category during a 1-month period. The average time spent on each category was calculated and comparisons for each section were made. Results showed that on average 144 minutes per day is spent on NUPA. The greatest amount of time (44 minutes) was spent on personal time (includes two 15-minute coffee breaks). Education, training, and research and development occupied 32 minutes per day and personnel, statistics, and quality assurance activities totaled 36 minutes each day. The remaining 30 minutes were divided between the categories social, idle, outside, and other. Supervisory staff spent 307 minutes per day on NUPA, whereas bench technologists and support staff spent 109 minutes per day for NUPA. Sectional results varied from 24.1% of work time for virology/immunology to 34.2% of work time for clinical bacteriology. Non-unit-producing activities as well as unit-producing activities should be considered in deploying laboratory staff.