Follow every water, soil and air sample from collection to signed test report.

An environmental laboratory is asked one question about every sample. Can the result be trusted? The answer depends on who collected it, how long it waited, which instrument ran it and who checked the numbers. Much of that is written on paper forms, bench sheets and instrument printouts, then typed again into a report by someone who was not at the bench.

Software for the laboratory keeps one record from sampling request to signed report. Holding times and calibration dates raise a flag before a result is spoiled. Reviewers see the control data beside the answer. Clients receive the report in the format they asked for, and a corrected version never overwrites the original.

A client books a sampling round or sends bottles to the laboratory. Field staff collect water, soil, stack emissions or ambient air, then add preservative where a method needs it. They fill in a chain of custody form with times, places and signatures. At the laboratory, the sample receipt desk checks temperature and condition, gives each bottle a laboratory number and notes anything that arrived damaged.

Analysts take aliquots for each test on the order, such as metals, nutrients, solvents or microbiology. Each batch runs with blanks, duplicates and spiked samples. Instrument readings are exported to a spreadsheet. A senior analyst reviews the batch, and anything outside the acceptance range is repeated before the result is released to the reporting desk.

The reporting team compares results with the limits the client named, prepares the certificate and has it signed by an authorised person. Some tests go to a partner laboratory. Invoices follow.