Writing Laboratory Technical Reports

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SEMLABS4_06Writing laboratory technical reports

SEMLABS4_06 Writing laboratory technical reports 1

Overview This unit covers the competences you need to write technical reports, in

accordance with approved procedures and practices. You will be required toestablish the scope and purpose of the technical reports in accordance with

established practices and principles. This includes seeking authority and terms

of reference from a senior scientist/project leader for the work undertaken. You

will be required to work to the relevant standard operating procedures,

legislation and organisational policy, and to follow Good Laboratory Practice

(GLP) and/or Good Clinical Practice (GCP)/Good Manufacturing Practice

(GMP). You will be required to present your technical report to the appropriate

people.

Your responsibilities will require you to comply with organisational policy andprocedures for ensuring the successful writing of reports, and to communicate

any problems that you cannot personally resolve to the relevant authority. You

will be expected to work unsupervised, either on your own or as part of a team,

which you may lead or direct, taking full responsibility for your actions and,

possibly, for the work of colleagues or subordinates.

Your underpinning knowledge will provide a good understanding of general and

discipline-specific laboratory principles and processes, and you will also be fully

conversant with organisational procedures and systems. You will understand

research planning principles and process, data analysis methods and

evaluation methods, which will enable you to follow technical report writing

principles and systems, whilst ensuring compliance with your company

organisational procedures and systems. You will also be conversant with

organisational specifications, details and formats, and resource management

principles, in sufficient depth to enable you to carry out the report writing

activities to the required standard.

You will be fully aware of any health, safety and environmental requirements,

and the appropriate legislative and regulatory frameworks, applicable to your

area of responsibility. You will be required to ensure that safe working practices

are maintained throughout, and will understand the responsibility you owe to

yourself and others in the workplace.



SEMLABS4_06 Writing laboratory technical reports


Performancecriteria

You must be able to: P1 ensure that your work is carried out in accordance with standard

operating procedures

P2 wear the appropriate personal protection equipment (PPE) when working

in the laboratory environment

P3 work safely at all times, complying with health and safety and other

relevant regulations and guidelines

P4 establish the scope and purpose of the report to be delivered

P5 determine quality and delivery issues, and the resources needed to

deliver the report

P6 present the report data and content in an appropriate format and

structure for the reader(s)P7 implement quality checks according to the company SOPs and policies

P8 include all information that is relevant and sufficient to meet scientific and

technical, GLP and other quality

P9 ensure that any expert/practitioner reports which are to be added are

reviewed for quality, and provide feedback to the author(s) on your

observations/recommendations

P10 obtain feedback on your early draft to ensure that the final report meets

the stated purpose

P11 follow the relevant procedures for authorisation from the appropriate

people and for release of the reportP12 ensure that the report is completed and issued within the agreed time

limits





Knowledge andunderstanding

You need to know and

understand:

Sector specific

K1 the health and safety requirements of the area in which you are carrying

out the laboratory activities

K2 the implications of not taking account of legislation, regulations,

standards and guidelines when conducting laboratory activities

K3 the standard operating procedures, as set down in local laboratory

operating manuals

K4 the principles of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and/or Good Clinical

Practice (GCP)/Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) applied in the

workplace


understand:

Organisation specific

K5 the purpose or speciality of the department in which you are employed,

and how it fits into the other specialities of the larger organisation

K6 the interactions which take place between the department and other

specialities in the same organisation

K7 the interactions which take place between the speciality in which you are

employed and others in the relevant specialities outside the organisation

K8 how your work activities affect others within the department, organisation

and the community

K9 the lines of communication and responsibilities in your department, andtheir links with the rest of the organisation

K10 the limits of your own authority and to whom you should report if you

have problems that you cannot resolve

K11 your organisation’s requirements for recording and archiving reports, and

the use of a unique identifying code


understand:

Equipment/Process specific

K12 the legal responsibilities for health and safety issues relevant to technical

reportsK13 the requirements of any external regulatory bodies, where they are

appropriate to the reports

K14 the legal consequences of breaches of quality procedures

K15 the systems used to ensure quality of reports within the organisation

K16 the methods used to monitor these quality systems

K17 the standards and standard operating procedures appropriate to the

writing and publishing of reports

K18 how to establish the scope of the technical report

K19 how to establish the purpose of the technical report

K20 how to access appropriate information

K21 how to assess the quality and completeness of the data/information





K22 the range of methods used to present the data in reports

K23 how to structure the report logically, clearly and concisely

K24 the appropriate format and ‘house style’ of the report

K25 the structure for a good laboratory report (eg, report title,

laboratory/location, purpose, procedure, data collection, calculations,

uncertainty/error analysis, final results, discussion, conclusion and

references)

K26 how to evaluate the information, draw logical conclusions and make

subsequent recommendations from your evaluation of the information

K27 to whom to distribute the report, and the appropriate communication

channels

K28 the authorisation required before the reports can be released for issue





Additional InformationScope/range

related toperformancecriteria

You must be able to:

1 write technical reports for both of the following situations:

1.1 internal consumption

1.2 external consumption

2 publish technical reports in both of the following formats:

2.1 draft form

2.2 final version

3 write technical reports that include eight of the following:

3.1 report title

3.2 laboratory and location

3.3 purpose of laboratory work

3.4 procedures and SOPs followed

3.5 data collected from laboratory work

3.6 calculations done

3.7 uncertainty/error analysis

3.8 final results from laboratory work

3.9 discussion on results conclusion

3.10 references used in the report

3.11 summary

4 record details of the work done, and communicate the details to the

appropriate people, using both:

4.1 verbal report

4.2 laboratory notebook

Plus one method from the following:4.3 written or typed report (e.g. laboratory notebook)

4.4 specific company documentation

4.5 computer-based record

4.6 electronic mail





Developed by SEMTA

Version number 1

Date approved January 2009

Indicative reviewdate

December 2014

Validity Current

Status Original

Originatingorganisation

SEMTA

Original URN O45NLAB4-06

Relevantoccupations

Associate professionals and technical oc; science and mathematics; science;

science and engineering technicians

Suite Laboratory science suite 4 2009

Key words laboratory; workplace; reports; writing; technical

Writing Laboratory Technical Reports

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