Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)

Designation of occupation

Chemical laboratory technician
Recognized by ordinance of March 22, 2000 (BGBl. I p. 257)

Duration of traineeship

3,5 years
The venues for training are the company and part-time vocational school (Berufsschule)

Field of activity

Chemical laboratory technicians work as part of a team in close co-operation with scientists and engineers in research, development and production laboratories in industry, in universities, in chemical research facilities and in inspection agencies as well as pilot plants, where a chemical process is scaled up from laboratory scale to industrial scale.

Chemical laboratory technicians carry out analyses and quality controls, syntheses and measuring tasks independently; they plan work processes in the laboratory, log the work and evaluate the results. They must exercise great responsibility in observing the rules and regulations of work safety, health protection. environmental protection and quality assurance in particular.

They have a broad-ranging scientific training. Depending on the company's focuses, they have also acquired specialist knowledge and abilities in the third stage of their training, which enable them to work in a team and on projects in various areas.

Occupational skills

Chemical laboratory technicians

• analyse inorganic and organic substances to determine their qualitative and quantitative composition;
• plan experimental processes and set up apparatus;
• produce inorganic and organic preparations in accordance with instructions;
• separate substance mixtures;
• purify, identify and characterise substances;
• optimise production instructions and processes for preparations, together with scientists;
• develop and optimise analysis techniques, together with scientists;
• carry out physical investigations for the determination of material constants and chemical parameters;
• log and document experimental processes; work with German and English language instructions;
• use computers for equipment control, data acquisition, processing and transmission as well as for documentation, information acquisition and for logistical and organisational purposes;
• evaluate measurement and experimental data and interpret the results;
• observe regulations on work safety, environmental and health protection in working with substances and equipment;
• dispose of waste in an environmentally compatible manner;
• use quality management methods in carrying out their work.

Last modified on: July 30, 2007