I'm looking for a bit of advice. I'm a long time senior tech. Recently due to funding cuts I've been "shared" among a few labs. One of the "new" labs that I've been asked to manage/provide tech support for is full of grad students and post-docs (no techs other than myself).
Our problem is that none of the students/post docs feel the need to clean up, wash glassware or re-stock consumables. The office space for everyone is far removed from the lab, leading to a "out of sight out of mind" thought process.
One of the postdocs who feels she has been doing the lion's share of cleaning confronted the group in a lab meeting the other day. Of course the responses were; "wasn't me", "not me", "I cleaned up", "you're crazy", etc...Luckily since I've been annexed recently to this lab I don't work directly in the space so their work doesn't affect my projects, but I do need to "manage" this lab now. Before joining this lab I had heard this same gripe come up about every six months or so, but since I had "no dog in that fight" I didn't have to weigh in on it. Now it seems it is my problem to resolve.
We proposed a rotating "cleaning" person, but of course that went over like a lead balloon. Privately I offered to the PI to be the cleanup person, but I was told "you're far to valuable to be the cleaning lady".
What works in your labs to keep messy co-workers in check?