Procurement and execution of PCB analyses: Customer-analyst interactions
The practical application of PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) analyses begins with a request for the analysis and concludes with provision of the requested analysis. The key to successful execution of this iteration is timely, professional communication between the requester and the analyst. Often PCB analyses are not satisfactorily executed, either because the requester failed to give adequate instructions or because the analyst simply ``did what he/she was told.`` The request for and conduct of a PCB analysis represents a contract for the procurement of a product (information about the sample); if both parties recognize and abide by this contractual relationship, the process generally proceeds smoothly. Requesters may be corporate purchasing agents working from a scope of work, a sample management office, a field team leader, a project manager, a physician`s office, or the analyst himself. The analyst with whom the requester communicates may be a laboratory supervisor, a sample-receiving department, a salesperson for the laboratory, or the analyst himself. The analyst conducting the analysis is often a team, with custody of the sample being passed from sample receiving to the extraction laboratory, to the cleanup laboratory, to the gas chromatography (GC) laboratory, to the data reduction person, to the package preparation person, to the quality control (QC) department for verification, to shipping. Where a team of analysts is involved, the requester needs a central point of contact to minimize confusion and frustration. For the requester-analyst interface to work smoothly, it must function as if it is a one-to-one interaction. This article addresses the pitfalls of the requester-analyst interaction and provides suggestions for improving the quality of the analytical product through the requester-analyst interface.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 10143759
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/ER/CP-77861; CONF-9303123-1; ON: DE93009964; TRN: 93:015170
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 5. international conference for the remediation of PCB contamination,Houston, TX (United States),15-16 Mar 1993; Other Information: PBD: [1993]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Data Sharing Report for the Quantification of Removable Activity in Various Surveillance and Maintenance Facilities at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge TN
DE-FE0026825_Final Report-sect_1
Related Subjects
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
QUALITY ASSURANCE
GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY
CONTRACTS
EVALUATION
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
400102
990100
CHEMICAL AND SPECTRAL PROCEDURES
MANAGEMENT