Laboratory operating procedures

A better characterization of laboratory operational procedures in order to optimize the diagnostic approaches may allow a most accurate and sensitive identification of genetic markers likely associated with diseases. Moreover, it may consent a better definition of personalized therapy with obvious repercussions in patient outcomes with neoplastic diseases. 

Managers are also responsible for reviewing and approving laboratory operations, procedures, or activities when a new chemical or change in process is introduced that creates a potential health hazard to SNL personnel and which has not been evaluated by cognizant SNL personnel and/or their Division ES H Team. They also ensure that engineering controls (e.g., fume hoods) and other protective equipment, such as eyewashes, safety showers, and PPE, are functioning properly and used appropriately. 

The standards for tests, which are cited in reference to the standards for characteristics. In order for a client and his supplier to compare their results during a commercial transaction, it is important that their laboratories rigorously follow the same operating procedures. The procedures are thus precisely defined in the standards. 

Quality control encompasses all activities used to bring a system into statistical control. The most important facet of quality control is written documentation, including statements of good laboratory practices, good measurement practices, standard operating procedures, and protocols for a specific purpose. 

Another step in laboratory automation to be achieved is the conversion of standard chemical procedures such as titrations or thermal gravimetric analysis, into unit laboratory operations. A procedure could then be selected from these laboratory operations by an expert system and translated by the system to produce a set of iastmctions for a robot. The robot should be able to obey specific iastmctions, such as taking a specified sample aliquot and titrating it using a specified reagent. 

Type 2 coordination is more prevalent and commonly used for all industrial applications. Below, we concentrate on coordination Type 2, permitting the least damage and longer service life. This coordination can safely withstand normal fluctuations in system parameters and operating conditions during normal working. It is always advisable to verify the authenticity of the coordination in a laboratory. For procedure, to establish the type of co-ordination, refer to lEC 60298. To achieve the required precise coordination we discuss a few typical cases below. 

To counter the elevated emissions associated with enrichment, the EPA has adopted supplemental federal test procedures. The new laboratory test procedures contain higher speeds, higher acceleration and deceleration rates, rapid speed changes, and a test that requires the air conditioning to be in operation. These tests increase the probability that vehicles will go into enrichment under laboratory test conditions. Hence, manufacturers have an incentive to reduce the frequency of enrichment occurrence in the real world. Future catalytic converters and emissions control systems will be resistant to the high-temperature conditions associated with engine load, and will be less likely to require enrichment for protection. Thus, enrichment contributions to emissions will continue to decline. 

At this point of the planning, we are mainly concerned with quantitative estimates of such utilities and the ease, or lack thereof, with which they can be brought to the laboratory area. These considerations have a profound effect on laboratory layout. In laboratories that have been in operation for some time, a lack of needed utilities is a major problem, particularly when new procedures are introduced. Estimates should be made by the laboratory operator in close cooperation with building professionals and should take future needs into consideration. 

Every laboratory is different. Standard safety features when applied to a given situation may be insufficient in some cases, superfluous in others. There will also be times when work is being done with materials or procedures not covered in available literature. Here the laboratory operator must use a combination of experience, knowledge, and common sense. The last of these may often be the most important. Planning a laboratory and making it operate safely thus becomes a custom procedure. 

Even the most reliable contractor or subcontractor may not be familiar with the requirements of a laboratory. He bases his bid on standard materials and procedures that he is accustomed to using for general construction. On the other hand, he may also throw in sophisticated and costly extras that are not required. It is for these reasons that everything must be well defined and crosschecked. Specifying materials and components by trade name is recommended. In many cases, of coimse, other brands could be acceptable, but it should be agreed that a switch can not be made without the laboratory operator s knowledge and approval. 

Careless Workmanship. One laboratory operator combined a variety of equipment for a distillation procedure and finally came up with something that met his needs. In other words, it worked —but he had a tangle of wires, water hoses, and blocks of scrap wood for support. With less than one day s additional work, he could have improved both performance and safety features. 

The individual scientist is the key to the production of quality data and must have technical competence and a dedication to quality work. Passive following of good laboratory practices and good measurement practices is not enough. Involvement in their development is required if the quality assurance program is to be credible. Standard operations procedures (SOPs) do not minimize the need for technical competence. Analysts exhibit varying degrees of proficiency when... 

Today, much more than just data are produced electronically. Many documents needed for studies that fall under the Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) standards regulations are being managed electronically. These records include not only data, such as chromatographic data from automated electronic capture systems and raw data collected in electronic field notebooks, but also other documents, such as methods, protocols, reports and standard operating procedures (SOPs). Frequently, these records are generated, distributed, reviewed, and archived electronically. 

To assure consistency and speed in multidisciplinary structure analysis of low-MW compounds involving various techniques (IR, NMR, MS, etc.) most industrial laboratories use a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). In such schemes IR analysis is frequently used as a cheap filter for a quick starting control and as a means for verification. As IR detects only structural units identification of an unknown compound on the basis of IR is difficult. Mass spectrometry is used as the prime identification tool and is especially important in the determination of the exact mass and gross formulae. While structural prognostication on the basis of MS is difficult for the non-expert, a posteriori interpretation is quite feasible. H NMR is both easy and cheap, however requires greater sample quantities than either... 

Responsible disposal of chemicals, samples and consumables is likewise an important aspect of good operating procedures in the laboratory. Regulations are fairly strict in terms of what may be disposed of into the drainage system. It may be permissible to dispose of some chemicals directly down the drain, flushed down with copious volumes of water. For other chemicals, specific disposal instructions, where available, must be followed. These will include collection of specific types of chemical waste in containers for disposal by incineration, landfill, etc. 

Chemical Systems Laboratory Standing Operating Procedure (CSL SOP) 70-18, 10 Nov 82, Exhaust Ventilating Systems. 

GLP stands for good laboratory practices. These are federal regulations governing FDA- and EPA-affiliated laboratories and pertain to proper procedures in the laboratory to ensure that results are obtained in as trustworthy a manner as possible. SOP stands for standard operating procedure. These are step-by-step written procedures that are specially approved by laboratory directors for carrying out certain specific tasks. 

Member States shall take all measures necessary to ensure that the laboratories referred to in Article 7 of Directive 89/397/EEC1 comply with the general criteria for the operation of testing laboratories laid down in European standard EN 450013 supplemented by Standard Operating Procedures and the random audit of their compliance by quality assurance personnel, in accordance with the OECD principles Nos. 2 and 7 of good laboratory practice as set out in Section II of Annex 2 of the Decision of the Council of the OECD of 12 Mar 1981 concerning the mutual acceptance of data in the assessment of chemicals.4... 

There are many regulations regarding the handling and disposal of radioisotopes and these must be fully understood and observed when setting up a radioisotope facility. The hazards must be fully assessed and the laboratory must be equipped and approved for the intended applications. All manipulations must be assessed for specific hazards and standard operating procedures (SOPs) fully implemented. 

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