What this means for your laboratory: when a client or an auditor asks where a sample is, or where it was, the answer is in the sample's history, not in a notebook. OnLAB holds the client, the requested tests and one row per sample; OnWSH records the movements of every sample linked to a job.
What the sample record shows
- Registration Each sample ID is entered exactly as it appears on the bag or submittal and checked against the job; a recognized sample shows as a sample row, and labels print for the bags or tubes.
- Recorded locations The analyst selects samples in the worksheet and picks a destination, such as the AAS room, from the laboratory's list of locations. OnWSH confirms how many samples were tracked and where.
- Result status Pending means required results are still missing; Ready means they are present but not yet published; Published means they have passed review and locking.
- Job events The job's Audit Viewer lists header, sample, test and result events with date, time and user, filters by sample and test, and saves the list to Excel.
A sample's history, line by line
Each tracked movement becomes one line in the sample's history in OnLAB: the location, the chemist who recorded it, the entry date and time, and the turnaround elapsed in days, hours and minutes. For example, three samples sent from preparation to the AAS room appear with that location and time, recorded by the analyst who moved them.
- Client requests become jobs When a client submits an analysis request in LabData, its samples and tests become the new OnLAB job, so reception starts from the client's own list.
- Reception observations kept with the job Damaged packaging or an unexpected condition is recorded in the job's notes with the affected sample IDs, the receipt date and time and the review decision.
- Certificate checked against the job The certificate preview shows every page, so sample IDs, tests, units and published values are compared with the job before printing.
- Same identifier from bag to report The sample ID registered at reception is the one loaded into the worksheet, tracked between locations and printed on the certificate.
Corrections with authorization
Published results are protected. Changing one requires unpublishing that single result with an authorized password; the corrected value stays unpublished, on a white background, until it is reviewed and published again, while every other result keeps its published state. In the worksheet, manual changes to a cell are logged with date, time, user, previous and new value.
Frequently asked questions
Which samples can be tracked from OnWSH?
Every sample linked to an OnLAB job. The analyst selects the samples in the worksheet and picks the destination, and OnWSH confirms the number tracked and the location.
How does a LabData request become a job?
The laboratory selects the client's request in OnLAB, assigns the job number and creates the job with the requested samples and tests already listed.
What does Published mean?
The results have been reviewed and locked, and are released in the job. What each client sees in LabData follows that client's access permissions.
Where can I see who recorded a movement?
In the sample's history in OnLAB. Each line shows the location, the chemist who recorded it, the entry date and time, and the elapsed turnaround.
Related: ISO 17025 LIMS · Mining LIMS
Related reading
- Article From Sample Reception to Certificate: Chain of Custody as the Operating Backbone of a Mining Laboratory LIMS
- Article Before the Assay: Controlling Sample Preparation Risk in Mining Laboratory LIMS
- Article When Mining Labs Face Sample Surges, Control Matters More Than Speed
- Article Eliminating Operational Bottlenecks: How a Mining Laboratory LIMS Solves the Administrative Burden in Assay Labs
- Solution Mining laboratory LIMS
- Solution Assay laboratory management