By: Ken C. Mohr, Jr. and Betsy M. Perry
Issue: Summer 2004
In today's modern forensic facility many criminalists
and examiners have expressed the need for flexible laboratory space.
Rapid changes in laboratory instrumentation and forensic science
methodologies, as well as increased case loads, have made a more
flexible and open laboratory environment a goal. How can the multiple
benefits of an open laboratory environment (improved floor plan efficiency,
introduction of natural light, increased communication among staff,
and future flexibility) be achieved and still provide a secure and
safe environment for both evidence and staff? Today's forensic planning
consultants have the knowledge and the skills to deliver a safe,
open laboratory environment for the forensic community.
Forensic Laboratory Planning
In the last eight years, the planning of forensic laboratories
has evolved. Historically, they were planned by healthcare or criminal
justice architects, where now they are programmed, planned, and
designed by specialized forensic laboratory consultants. These
new forensic laboratory consultants combine the lessons learned
from a variety of laboratory facility types to create tomorrow’s
state-of-the-art forensic lab. Today's forensic facility occupants
wish to be a part of the design process that will provide the best
possible space for today and the future. One tool forensic planners
use to achieve this is called modular design planning. While modular
design organizes the laboratory building, it also organizes the
utility systems and their distribution throughout the facility.
The combination of building organization and infrastructure creates
a facility that is intrinsically more flexible and adaptable, easier
to renovate and modify, extending the useful life of the laboratory.
Modular Planning
Modular planning uses blocks of space of proportional sizes to
give the designer and the user multiple options for achieving a
flexible facility. These blocks of space, or modules, respond to
the functional dimensions necessary for forensic science activities.
Modular planning takes into consideration acceptable lengths and
depths of laboratory casework, structural systems and column bay
spacing, fixed and movable laboratory equipment, ergonomics and
the user's health & safety, along with code requirements. (see
figure 1)
Once a module size is developed for a specific user or facility,
the modules can be laid out together as a floor plan and the laboratory
begins to take shape. Modular planning does not mean that each
module has four walls and a door, rather it is a space assigned
to a specific function, activity, or occupant.
Let’s look at an example for a typical firearms section
with six examiners. Through interviews, benchmarking, and industry
standards we have determined that each examiner requires 120 NSF
(net square feet) for an examiner's workstation, 120 NSF for an
office, and another 720 NSF of support space for reference weapons,
ammunition, and temporary evidence storage within the section.
The programmed NSF is equivalent to 960 NSF or 4 modules of 240NSF
for each examiner. The firearms section, therefore, is made up
of 5,760 NSF or a total of 24 modules of 240 NSF for six examiners.
An industry standard in firearms is the combination of office
space with the examiner's workstation area. This is possible because
there are no chemical hazards present at the examiner's workstation.
If we apply this practice in a planning concept, an open laboratory
environment of 1,440 NSF (six modules) for office and examination
activities is created, giving the examiners a larger flexible space,
rather than their individual space, in which to work.
Efficiency
The open laboratory concept is an efficient floor plan. With fewer
walls and doors, fewer dedicated corridors are needed for circulation
through the space. Older forensic facilities were designed for
each occupant and each instrument to have its own room. This design
strategy lacks the internal flexibility of the space; the rooms
are "landlocked" and unable to change when additional
personnel are added, there is a change in scientific methods, or
new equipment is purchased. We have seen a 20% to 22% improvement
in today's open laboratory environment come from the net square
footage to gross square footage ratio. The net to gross ratios
for most new forensic facilities falls between 62% and 66% efficiency
for the entire building with 50% to 58% efficient on a heavy lab
floor and 65% to 72% on a heavy office floor. Concepts that can
alter the building's efficiency include the use of dedicated corridors
for transporting evidence, incorporating a public tour route with
the laboratories, and the open laboratory environment.
Security
Critical to the success of the open laboratory environment is
providing the necessary levels of protection to the evidence, staff,
and facility where it is needed. With the advent of technology
and good laboratory planning and design, we are able to achieve
the necessary protection without putting everything and everyone
behind six inches of concrete and below grade. The best approach
to providing protection beginning from the outside of a facility
looking in. Imagine the facility as if it were an onion; peeling
back layer upon layer until you arrive at the laboratory core of
the facility.
l The first layer of the onion is the site and building perimeter,
which can be monitored with well-camouflaged technology and beautifying
landscape elements to improve standoff conditions.
l Utility services feeding the facility should be evaluated for
the desired level of redundancy.
l Controlled approaches to the facility for vehicles, visitors,
and staff as well as access into the facility should consider x-ray,
metal detectors, CCTV and visual surveillance.
l Once in the facility, visitors should be screened at a security
desk, evidence is logged into the lab's "chain of custody," and
staff can utilize proximity cards or biometric devices.
l Provide long and short term evidence storage, a room to review
cases without the evidence leaving the facility, and evidence tracking
systems.
l Within the laboratory and at the bench utilize individual evidence
storage units, secure exam rooms with limited access, and bulk
section storage in a monitored environment. Depending on the sensitivity
of the evidence, vibration and motion sensors, CCTV, and redundant
access control can be employed.
Quality of Life and Safety
It's proven that the better the quality of life, the better the
productivity of the occupants of the facility. Forensic scientists
have been some of the most resourceful people when it comes to
lab space. They can take a recently vacated jail cell and convert
it into evidence holding or even a laboratory support space without
removing a single cubic foot of concrete or cell door. However,
it is not desirable to set up scientific equipment in such spaces;
not only is bad for morale, it doesn't add credibility to the scientific
process of evidence examination.
The open laboratory environment does improve morale within the
staff and reinforces the credibility of the forensic system. The
larger volume of space is better equipped to reject heat from laboratory
instrumentation than small rooms, which translates into better
ventilation for users. Locating the laboratory along an exterior
wall allows natural day lighting into the open lab and travel through
to the corridors or the offices beyond. Daylighting also provides
a means of visual relief for the laboratory occupants, improves
visual acuity, and reduces eye strain; not to mention being able
to tell if it’s going to rain or see the morning sun. All
of these improvements benefit the level of safety in the lab by
allowing the users to watch over each other, reduce laboratory
accidents, and provide checks and balances of evidentiary security.
Communications
Without communication we have nothing. In a forensic lab, close
communication between scientists, criminalists, examiners, and
detectives is required on a daily basis. These conversations typically
involve discussions about evidence and the findings associated
with it. The evolution of the open laboratory environment, besides
providing the space to review, examine and analyze evidence, also
provides opportunities for individuals to work together to solve
crimes. By working on adjacent benches in an open lab, rather than
in individual labs and offices, criminalists can easily meet, converse,
and discuss aspects of a case. More communications in the lab can
enhance collaboration; increase the performance of successful scientific
investigations, help staff stay current with scientific methodologies
and the ever changing needs of forensic instrumentation. Visual
and verbal communications improve team work and lab safety, thereby
reducing the number of laboratory incurred injuries and the potential
for the mishandling of evidence.
Conclusion
There are many benefits to utilizing an open laboratory environment
for forensic science. These include improved communications among
scientists, which can produce the ability to more easily collaborate
and lead to more successful scientific investigation outcomes.
In addition, the flexible space of an open laboratory make managing
change, whether for different scientific protocols and procedures
or for the changing landscape of forensic instrumentation, much
easier on the forensic staff , and quality of life can be achieved
in a safe environment.
