Maintaining Job Portion Tracking Details

Overview

Chain of custody (COC) is a concept, mainly in commercial laboratories, that keeps track of jobs, to verify the primary processing events that happens to a job. It starts with the COC being passed from the client, possibly through a delivery agent, to the laboratory. It is the tracking of the initial receipt of the samples and their receipt conditions in which custodianship is passed to the laboratory. Effectively, as the laboratory staff sign for the samples from the delivery agent, they become responsible for the handling of the samples.

It is not uncommon for the initial paperwork from the client to be scanned so that it is saved as an electronic record of the COC details, as delivered. The COC might simply be the paperwork trail of the handling and processing of the samples, but could also cover the full electronic tracking of who handled and processed the samples until they are reported. You could imagine that this COC could be called for to be provided, if there is an dispute or questioning of the handling of the client's samples.

Some laboratories issue an initial COC receipt back to the client, listing the job details, sample lists and the tests to be performed, so that the client can confirm that there are no details missing before the laboratory proceeds with their tasks.

Where the samples are intrinsically valuable (for example, gold or precious metals), then the COC can also include tracking who held, and when, custodianship of the samples at any time. It could even request that the weight of the samples be tracked between changes of custodians.

A job can have sample portions recorded, as they were received from the client. Then, the multi-capacity container type, location and sample handling details for job-level tracking can be maintained.

Tracking Portions by Job

In CCLAS, sample portion tracking is configured to occur either by job or by sample. This process presumes that sample portion tracking by job is configured. Refer to Configuring Preferences for Portion Tracking. When sample portions are tracked by job, then no individual sample portions are registered or created for samples. The only action available is the tracking of the job's sample portions by job.

If sample portion tracking is by job, then job sample portion details are displayed on the Job Tracking tab on the CCREGN—Job Detail screen for jobs that have a Job Type of Production or Internal, and the Location Code, Multi-Capacity Container Type Code and Sample Handling Code must be selected. Refer to Conditions for Displaying the Job Tracking Tab.

Maintaining Job Tracking Details

If sample portion tracking is by job, upon creating a job:

Upon updating a job's tracking details:

Update job portion tracking details

Location Code

The Location Code indicates where the job's sample portions are situated. The read-only Checked in On and Checked in By are the date-time that the job's sample portions were moved to that location and the user who set the location, updated by the system when the job's sample portions are relocated.

Multi-Capacity Container Type Code

The Multi-Capacity Container Type Code and Multi-Capacity Container Name indicates the container containing the job's sample portions.

Sample Handling Code

The Sample Handling Code indicates the action applied on the job's sample portions. The read-only Started On and Started By are the date-time that the sample handling action was started and the user who started the action, updated by the system when the job's sample portions are assigned a different sample handling code. The Due On is the date-time at which the sample handling action is due to finish.