Role Overview
This laboratory role tests drilling wastes and related environmental samples to establish their composition, support treatment decisions, and confirm whether materials meet applicable acceptance, disposal, discharge, or reuse criteria. The work combines field sampling, hands-on chemical analysis, instrument care, and careful reporting so technical and operations teams can respond to results with confidence.
Key Responsibilities
- Sample incoming waste, treatment processes, wastewater systems, stored materials, and completed treatment batches using approved plans and methods.
- Prepare, preserve, label, transport, and track samples, keeping complete records that connect each result to its client, waste stream, and treatment batch.
- Test drill cuttings, drilling muds, oily sludge, contaminated soil, water, wastewater, leachate, sediment, and recovered products for relevant physical and chemical properties.
- Measure parameters such as petroleum hydrocarbons, oil and grease, moisture, pH, conductivity, salinity, chlorides, metals, solids, and density using approved procedures.
- Operate and maintain laboratory equipment, from balances, ovens, furnaces, retort kits, and meters to advanced instruments such as GC-MS, GC-FID, AAS, ICP-MS, and ion chromatographs where available.
- Complete instrument checks, calibration, verification, troubleshooting, and routine maintenance; arrange servicing when necessary and monitor supplies of reagents, standards, and consumables.
- Apply laboratory quality controls, including blanks, duplicates, spikes, standards, and control-chart reviews; check data for accuracy and flag results that fall outside specifications or indicate potential process or environmental risks.
- Prepare analytical reports and certificates, maintain laboratory and LIMS records, and support compliance reporting, audits, inspections, and improvements to testing and treatment-control procedures.
- Follow laboratory and field safety controls, including correct PPE use and safe management of chemicals, hazardous samples, laboratory waste, fume hoods, and spill-response equipment.
Requirements & Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Analytical Chemistry, Industrial Chemistry, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Laboratory Technology, or a related field.
- At least three years of laboratory experience in environmental testing, oil and gas, industrial wastewater, mining, extractives, or an accredited testing laboratory.
- Professional registration where required for the discipline.
- Practical ability to conduct environmental laboratory testing, wet chemistry, hydrocarbon and metals analysis, and drilling-waste characterization.
- Working knowledge of sampling and preservation, environmental monitoring, drilling-waste management, hazardous-waste classification and handling, wastewater-treatment monitoring, chemical storage, and laboratory safety.
- Familiarity with relevant Kenyan environmental requirements, including applicable NEMA and WRA compliance provisions, and with ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 17025 principles.
- Experience with laboratory quality systems, LIMS, chain-of-custody records, data validation, and technical reporting. ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory experience is an advantage.
- Experience with drilling fluids or hazardous-waste characterization, NEMA or WRA monitoring, and GC-MS, GC-FID, AAS, or comparable analytical techniques is an advantage.
- Additional training in environmental sampling or analysis, laboratory quality management, ISO/IEC 17025 internal auditing, hazardous-material handling, occupational health and safety, first aid, or HSE risk assessment is desirable.
- Strong data interpretation, problem-solving, and scientific writing skills, with sound judgement, attention to detail, and a commitment to accurate, confidential, traceable results.
- Clear communication and collaborative working skills, including the ability to coordinate with technical, operations, HSE, finance, and project colleagues.
- Ability to maintain laboratory quality, safety, and compliance standards in remote, fast-moving, operational project settings.
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