• Job Type: Support Staff - Union
• Bargaining Unit: SSA
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $46,329.00 $46,329.00

Position Summary

The Technician Assistant will provide assistance to various personnel in a busy Anatomic Pathology Laboratory Gross Room. Duties will include cleaning, labeling of pathology materials, specimen transport, formalin fixed and unfixed pathology waste disposal, heavy lifting, maintenance of supplies, filing, record keeping and other duties as assigned. Assignment will result in potential contact with bloodborne pathogens and exposure to formaldehyde requiring use of a respirator.

Responsibilities

• 40% - Cleaning, maintaining, sanitizing. Grossing stations, cutting boards, dishes, grossing tools, gross room ancillary equipment and apparatus. Gross room surfaces and storage units. Replace disposable drapery from grossing stations and adjacent surfaces.  
• 20% - Disposal of various specimen types: dispose (discard) surgical pathology specimens (formalin fixed, fresh and frozen) in accordance with departmental policies. Uses full face respirator during formalin fixed tissue separation and disposal.
• 10% - Specimen filing, retrieval, and archiving.  Specimen rotation and preparation for archival / storage & disposal.  Runs Co-Path report to select specimens for disposal. Moves selected specimens for disposal to waste dumping room. Retrieves teaching specimens. Prepares them for presentation (remove formalin & rinse)  
• 10% - Supply/ Inventory- restocks grossing stations with relevant supply/ tools and PPEs. Replenish chemicals used at grossing stations. Restock grossing stations with clean grossing tools.  Receives supplies, re-stocks inventory in storage and grossing stations and other units of gross room.
• 10% - Trash and Waste Removal.  Hazardous and Non-Hazardous Trash Removal/Rotation. Assists with cleaning occasional spills.
• 5%- Miscellaneous ancillary duties- lifting, moving objects within gross room or to other areas of the department. Delivering items to morgue. Specimens labeling and sorting.
• 5% - Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Two years of college or a completed A.A. program with an emphasis in chemistry, biology, or physics or the equivalent in education, training, and experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Copath experience preferred.

Other Requirements

• Ability to work independently. Ability to tolerate a prolonged usage of full-size respirator.
• Excellent communication skills a must.
• Must be able to lift at least 25lbs and be available to work evenings.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.