Good laboratory practice data storage

STL are accredited by the Department of Trade and Industry via the National Measurement Accreditation Scheme (NAMAS). This covers all aspects of laboratory operations, such as organization of the laboratory and methodology, equipment and staff training, quahty-control systems and storage of data. The company acquired the first accreditation in the UK for the analysis of organic compounds by GC-MS. It also operates appropriate procedures to conform with the Department of Health s Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) recommendations. 

In addition, the reliability of the stripping data strongly depends on the degree to which contamination can be minimized. Hence, as in other trace analytical methods, all principles of good laboratory practice (glassware cleanliness, sample collection and storage, etc.) must be observed to obtain high accuracy and low detection limits. 

The current good manufacturing practices (GMP) state that Laboratory records shall include complete data derived from all tests necessary to assure compliance with established specifications and standards [5]. This includes all electronic and hard copies of raw data, laboratory notebooks, and/or worksheets and reports. Additionally, the regulations require that records shall be readily available for authorized inspection [6]. Consequently, the organization must have a well-defined audit trail for the generation, storage, and retrieval of reports and raw data. It must also be shown that there is adequate document management and security of all raw data and reports in terms of both disaster recovery and prevention of falsification of results. 

To keep track of samples in storage or enroute to the analytical laboratory, it is good practice to record details of all samples in a chain-of-custody record. This is an essential document if data from field sampling is needed for legal proceedings. 

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