Storing and Communicating Information in a Laboratory
The types of information gathered within the laboratory depends on the purposes of the lab, the
experiments carried out, the materials and equipment used and the hazards faced. Some examples
of information kept within the lab are inventories of equipment and materials, experiment results,
ordering information, risk assessments, equipment cleaning/servicing/calibration logs and
instructions, disposal records, health and safety audits and staff rotas. This information may be
recorded in paper records such as lab books, paper documents, lab records and filing. Computerised
records such as online servers, cloud storage, hard drives and laboratory information management
systems (LIMS) may be used alternatively or in conjunction. Paper records are easily accessed and
edited and can be stored in an organised system within a filing cabinet or boxes. Physical storage of
paper records takes up space, can create a fire hazard and may be easily accessed without
authorisation. Furthermore, paper can be easily damaged and may be only one copy. Computer
records can be highly secured using company logins, password protection and biometric security
such as fingerprint identification. Computer records take up far less space than paper records and
pose less of a fire risk, computer systems provide a range of additional services which can
revolutionise a lab. Also, there is less risk of destroying files and important documents can be backed
up, they are easily accessible and can be edited by multiple people simultaneously to allow remote
group working. Digital files can be instantly shared internationally, whereas paper copies may take
several days to send. When multiple people need to edit a paper document, it must be sent between
apartments, buildings, or potentially countries to be edited, then returned before these revisions
can be viewed by the sender. When editing a digital document, a team can view a document
remotely and edit with live updates, working together on the file. The main issue with computerised
storage systems is that computers can break easily, and files cannot be accessed without a device.
Fortunately, cloud storage allows files to be viewed from any device using the company login, so
personal computers, mobile phones and other devices can be used to access important files if
necessary. It is difficult to destroy electronic files as they are usually backed up and recoverable for
30 days after being deleted, but if they are permanently deleted, they cannot be retrieved. Any files
which are stored solely on a computer’s internal storage could be permanently lost if the computer
is broken, so multiple backup locations and cloud storage are preferable.
Information collected in an industrial laboratory often goes through many departments during its
use, samples may be subjected to many tests and pass through many hands. It is essential for
samples to be made traceable. Traceability allows the history of a sample to be logged and verified,
showing its journey throughout the lab. It is essential for samples in medical and food and drink
industries in particular to be traceable. For example, when a medicine is being manufactured,
samples will be taken and undergo a variety of tests for contents and purity throughout the process,
if one of these tests uncovers an issue with the product, for example purity is not up to standard, the
batch from which this sample was taken must be identified and prevented from being sold to
consumers. Without traceability, it may be impossible to locate the batch of unsafe medicine and
discontinue its production, which could have dangerous effects for the public who make take it.
Furthermore, traceability is essential to tracking clinical samples, allowing doctors to view the status
of a patient's sample (eg in transport, at the lab, completed), ensuring patients receive the correct
results from tests and allowing results to be communicated between healthcare professionals and
patients. There are several methods for making information traceable, in these examples the
primary method would be using barcodes. Unique barcodes can be printed onto sample bags and
scanned when picked up by transport, when entering the laboratory, when undergoing testing,
, when returning to the hospital, etc. Barcodes are used in a variety of industries, for example in retail
barcodes are used to identify products for stock, sale, return and more. User logins for computer
systems are another way of maintaining traceability, any document edits, sample logs,
communications or other information can be traced to an individual using logins. These logins
usually consist of a company email and a unique password to ensure staff can only log into their own
accounts. They can also control which information is accessible by the individual, allowing staff to
access and edit only the information relevant to their projects, an example of this is in healthcare
where staff are able to view only information about their patients, not other’s. There is a potential
issue of staff sharing passwords or not logging out of systems, which could result in an inaccurate
history of the information or staff accessing confidential information. Physical barriers to
information such as locking doors with keys, pins, card scanners, or biometrics can protect
information within the building from being accessed by anyone who is not authorised, this ensures
security of the information inside as well as maintaining traceability by tracking who was in the
building at certain times, this would be useful if a sample has gone missing for example.
The needs for security and traceability are enforced by the Data Protection Act 1998 which controls
the types of information which is allowed to be stored, how it may be used and shared, and the
rights of the individual whose information is being stored. The Data Protection Act requires that data
must be used fairly, lawfully, transparently, for specified explicit purposes in a way that is relevant
and limited to only what is necessary and kept for no longer than necessary, being handled in a way
that ensures appropriate security, including protection against unlawful or unauthorised processing,
access, loss, destruction or damage. Companies must take this act into consideration when deciding
which staff should have access to specific information and how the information will be secured and
made traceable.
Data analysis is the process of extracting useful information from data sets, this is particularly
important when dealing with large data sets. Data analysis allows conclusions to be drawn from
data, by transforming raw data into simpler, more accurate information and highlighting minor
patterns which might have been overlooked. A basic step in analysing large data sets is determining
averages, using the mean, median mode and standard deviation of data sets can allow conclusions
based on the distribution of the data. Determining the relationship of one data set to another, the
correlation, is another key step to interpreting the data (2). An example of this in industry is
determining the groups of people which are most at risk of a certain illness, it is possible to observe
the number of flu cases in different age groups, allowing medical professionals to determine that
people over 65 are more likely to catch the flu. This type of information is collected primarily from
GPs and hospitals who diagnose the illness in patients and report it to the government, where data
analysts draw conclusions such as the age groups which are most at risk. In this case, information on
many other factors may be used, such as a person's race, sex and medical history, including any risk
factors for the disease. Similarly, information can be collected from vaccination sites to observe the
trends in vaccine uptake, such as the ages, sexes and races which are most likely to get vaccinated,
allowing efforts to be made to ensure as many people are getting vaccinated as possible.
Developmental laboratories produce new products or explore new production processes, this many
include producing new drugs, producing new food and drinks or testing new production processes
for chemicals or other products. These products must go through a variety of analytical testing to
determine the product’s purity, safety, concentration, effectiveness and more. Staff who are
