Laboratory Management Toolbox – Teacher’s Guide
Teacher’s Guide
Laboratory Management Toolbox
PML 99 Laboratory Operations Training Package -
Advanced Diploma in Laboratory Operations
Table of Contents
About this Toolbox
What is in this Toolbox?
What is the learning strategy?
Target audience
Orientation to the Toolbox
How can I use this Toolbox?
How can I customise the Toolbox?
How is the assessment organised?
DOCUMENTATION
Project 1: Recognise documentation need/deficiency
Project 2: Develop/revise documentation
Project 3: Communicate and evaluate changes to laboratory documentation
RISK MANAGEMENT
Project 1: Provide information to the work-group and handle issues that arise
Project 2: Implement and monitor workplace procedures for identifying hazards and assessing risks
Project 3: Implement and monitor workplace procedures for controlling risks
Project 4: Implement workplace procedures for dealing with hazardous events
Project 5: Arrange for training
REGISTRATION
Project 1: Interpret and communicate current legislation, codes and standards
Project 2: Ensure that work practices meet compliance requirements
Project 3: Monitor, analyse, adjust and report performance
Project 4: Investigate, rectify and report non-conformance
QUALITY SYSTEMS
Project 1: Develop and maintain the quality framework within the work area
Project 2: Maintain quality documentation
Project 3: Provide training in quality systems and improvement processes
Project 4: Optimise and report performance
Project 5: Evaluate relevant components of the quality system
INTERNAL AUDITS
Project 1: Preparing for the audit
Project 2: Conduct of the audit
Project 3: Report findings
Project 4: Complete corrective action
Project 1: Determine sample characteristics and testing requirements
Project 2: Select Test Methods
Project 3: Select and evaluate reference materials
Project 4: Select test methods for regulatory or licensing requirements
DEVELOP PRODUCTS AND APPLICATIONS
Project 1: Set scope of project
Project 2: Set Scope of Project......
Project 3: Develop new product formulation
Project 4: Setting standards for the new product
Project 5: Document and report project outcomes
VALIDATE TEST METHODS
Project 1: Confirm Equipment Including Computer Systems has Been Validated
Project 2: Validate test method according to defined protocol, and evaluate and record results
PROCEDURES
Project 1: Determine gaps and deficiencies in present analyses and/or procedures
Project 2: Research and propose alternatives
Project 3: Evaluate alternatives, develop analyses and recommend method/procedure
Project 4: Document and report new method/procedure
Laboratory Management Toolbox – Series 51/97
Laboratory Management Toolbox – Teacher’s Guide
About this Toolbox
This Toolbox contains resources to assist training organisations deliver certain units of competency that are part of the Advanced Diploma of Laboratory Operations (PML 601 99) of the Laboratory Operations Training Package PML99. To achieve a credible relationship with the requirements of the units of competency, the resources have been designed against the performance criteria of the units of competency.
It is expected that training organisations will make their own assessment about the appropriate use of the resources in this Toolbox within their organisation’s capability, including personnel and information technology. Organisations may choose to:
- use part of the resources.
- modify and re-badge certain components to reflect the organisation’s context and need.
- deliver the resources as a CD-ROM based product, or connect them to a learning management platform.
Training organisations should note that the Toolbox is not the only resource available to them to deliver units of competency. They may choose to develop their own resources or access other available resources.
Any training resources need to be viewed as tools to facilitate learning and the development of competence. Training will ideally provide opportunities for practice, and prepare learners to supply evidence of competence in authentic and suitably administered assessment events.
The training organisation must ensure that the evidence it collects is a valid and reliable basis for making assessment decisions about an individual’s competence. That is, the individual’s achievement of the unit or units of competency that align to the resource and its related assessment processes.
What is in this Toolbox?
This Toolbox contains online resources for the following units of competency to meet the requirements of the Advanced Diploma in Laboratory Operations.
Code / Unit NamePMLCOM600A / Develop and maintain laboratory documentation
PMLOHS600A / Implement and monitor risk management processes associated with OH&S and environmental policies and procedures
PMLORG601A / Maintain registration and statutory or legal compliance in work/functional area
PMLQUAL600A / Maintain quality system and continuous improvement processes within work/functional area
PMLQUAL601A / Conduct an internal audit of the quality system
PMLTEST600A / Implement and monitor risk management processes associated with OHS and environmental policies and procedures
PMLTEST700 A / Contribute to the Development of Products and Applications
PMLTEST702 A / Validate Test Methods
PMLTEST703A / Develop or adapt analyses and procedures
What is the learning strategy?
The Toolbox encapsulates the underpinning principles of constructivism, problem-based learning and training for adult learners. It is developed from a learner-centred perspective using an ‘anchored’ learning approach, with scenarios/projects based on authentic work situations. Using this approach, learners will benefit from experiencing the following conditions:
- an engaging and motivational context
- active learning
- interaction with teachers and peers
- online communication tools to encourage a collaborative learning environment.
In each of the resources the unit of competency is introduced with text that shows how the unit’s performance criteria can be met through completion of individual projects. Each project may have a number of parts (depending to the amount of information contained within the performance criteria), and is complete with a set of activities (for the learner to practice and self-assess) and submission tasks (can be used as an assessment task to be submitted to the teacher).
Target audience
The rationale to model the Toolbox around a simulated laboratory was to maximise the relevance of the resource to the target audience. It anticipates participation from the following target audience groups:
Group 1- potential full-time students articulating from the Diploma in Laboratory Operations.
These students who do not have experience working in laboratory before will benefit by having the opportunity to engage and learn in a real life setting simulated by SIMULAB.
Group 2 – full-time employed laboratory personnel wishing to gain skills to move into aspects of laboratory management
These learners with experience working in a laboratory will benefit from experiencing the design and management of quality systems in a simulated setting that does not trivialise a real life setting. They could replace SIMULAB’s documentation with their local laboratory system and work through the projects using realistic documents and records.
Group 3 – training for laboratory management personnel who needs to keep their skills updated
The Toolbox covers the latest Standards, Legislations and SIMULAB’s policies and procedures. There are opportunities for future updates, and laboratories could use it as an ongoing training tool to keep their staff skills current. Laboratories could customise SIMULAB with their own system to enable their staff to learn using their local system.
Orientation to the Toolbox
The Toolbox is introduced through the main splash page. In this page, links are provided for:
System requirements
Teacher’s Guide
Toolbox tour
Before embarking into the Toolbox, everyone (teachers and learners) using the Toolbox should undertake the Toolbox Tour. The tour provides information about the site to familiarise with the site and it navigational structure.
To enter the Toolbox, simply click on the Enter Toolbox button. Learners may personalise the Toolbox by entering their name in the space provided, and then simply enter the Toolbox.
The Toolbox introductory page provides information about the competencies available in the Toolbox and a link is provided to view the competency structure of the Advanced Diploma of Laboratory Operations and completion requirements. The information is sourced from Qualification Information for Laboratory Operations Training Package Code: PML99 Version 2.00, Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) 2001.
The resources for each competency unit can be accessed from the left navigation.
In each unit, an Introduction is provided to orientate the learner to the contents of the unit. A number of Projects are introduced and they are aligned with the performance criteria of the unit. Some may have a number of parts, depending on the extent of information contained within the performance criteria. To enter each project, simply click on each project on the left.
The projects are based on practices within “SimuLab” accessible in the Intranet, a fictitious company mocked up with personnel and an extensively developed Quality System. Characters are introduced in the projects with the learner assuming a role as defined in the Introduction page of each unit. To get an appreciation of personnel in SimuLab, you should tour the Intranet, and have a look SimuLab’s Management and Organisational Structure.
Each project is introduced with an explanation of the learning outcomes and contains a set of activities (for the learner to practice and self-assess) and submission tasks (can be used as an assessment task to be submitted to the teacher). The Checklist is a summary of all the activities and submission tasks contained within the unit.
Whilst in the project, learner may access a number of global resources made available on every page of the Toolbox. They are represented as icons on the bottom navigational bar on each page.
The global resources available to the learner includes the:
Intranet
Bookcase
Glossary
Tools
The Intranet contains SimuLab’s Intranet where all associated manuals; work instructions, registers and forms are held. Learners may go to this site at any time by simply clicking on the icon. A window pops out and when finished, learners simply close the window and is back to the project.
The Bookcase contains additional reading material for each competency unit. They hold useful interpretations of standards, codes and references. Learners are referred to the bookcase from the projects. The Bookcase material can also be printed as hard copy for future reference, as the amount of information is quite substantial.
The Glossary contains definitions of terms used in the Toolbox.
The Tools icon is provided as a placeholder for training organisations to incorporate in their learning management system.
In addition to these global resources, Tips and Consultant are provided to support the learning. In most projects, the Tips and Consultant provides guides to enable the learner successfully complete the activity or task.
In addition to the resources provided in the site, teachers should advise learners to obtain a copy AS ISO/IEC 17025-1999, General Requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories and ISO 9001:2000 – Quality management systems - Requirements. These are mandatory documents to accompany this Toolbox.
Learners should also have access to the following documents:
AS2243 Safety in Laboratories
AS2415 Calibration System Requirements
AS2706 Numerical Values - Rounding and Interpretation of Limiting Values
AS2830.1 Good Laboratory Practice. Part 1 - Chemical Analysis
AS2850 Chemical Analysis - Inter-laboratory test programs for determining precision of analytical method(s) - guide to the planning and conduct
AS2982 Laboratory construction
AS2929 Test methods - Guide to the format, style and content.
How can I use this Toolbox?
These resources are designed to be flexible for teachers to adapt the delivery to suit their needs; whether in the workplace or in a class group. It is best used with a learning management platform (non-specific) to optimise the communication interactions introduced, and using the tracking mechanisms that learning management systems offer.
Each competency unit is offered as a standalone unit, so teachers may offer the units as a group or on its own. The next section provides some guidance on customisation to maximise the intent of the learning strategy.
How can I customise the Toolbox?
The Toolbox is designed for a variety of learners who could be undertaking the study in different environments. As such, the projects are designed around a simulated laboratory, based on realistic work situations, which may occur.
The components that teachers may wish to customise are:
Intranet site – if you intend to use it in a real laboratory environment, you may replace this site with your own company’s intranet site with you own policies, systems and records.
Activities and Submission Tasks– the activities can be customised to reflect realistic outcomes you may wish the learner to provide. Some examples of alternative activities are provided in this guide, but they are far from exhaustive.
Bookcase -you may wish to include more reference materials that may suit your particular environment. In particular, the Toolbox attempts to address conditions across a wide range of industries and hence may be limiting in some areas of reference. This allows you to increase the depth of your industry requirements for a particular cohort of learners.
Competencies – the Toolbox has been designed to allow for competencies to be presented individually within their own interface. Instructions on how to do this can be found in the Toolbox Technical Guide.
How is the assessment organised?
Each competency unit is delivered through a number of projects. The projects are based on the performance criteria, which the learner is expected to achieve on completion of the unit. Most projects, depending on the extensiveness of coverage, are broken down into a number of parts.
All projects include a number of Activities and Submission Tasks.
Activities are clearly identified in a boxed frame called Activity so it is not easily overlooked. They are usually accompanied by sample answers, or fairly definitive Tips to enable the learner to assess themselves. These activities may serve as:
- formative assessment for the learner to gauge the extent of learning taken place
- use as an assessment instrument to award credits.
Submission Tasks are also identified in a boxed frame similar to the Activity. They are more holistic and tend to assess a specific outcome as prescribed by the performance criteria.
A summary of all activities and submission tasks for each unit is provided in the Checklist.
DOCUMENTATION
Unit: PML COM 600 A - Develop and maintain laboratory documentation
There are three projects in this unit. Each project meets the outcome of the performance criteria in the competency unit. You should read through this project first in order to become familiar with the online resources available, the types of activities and tasks learners are attempting and the type of responses you are expecting.
In this set of projects, the learner takes on the role of Olga O'Grady, the Section Leader of the Metals Group of the SimuLab Metals Laboratory. The learner will need to be reminded that emails and other correspondence addressed to Olga ... are actually addressed to them! They will need to respond as such.
Be prepared to give feedback to learners using the Tools facility or just by email. Where possible, sample answers have been built in to facilitate immediate feedback to learners. In some activities and tasks, learners will be asked to select a nominated partner or work colleague to exchange work. Where possible, the partners chosen should be rotated to encourage greater collaboration and sharing of ideas.
Facilitate discussion in the Forum by using the topics provided as triggers. You may choose to suggest your own topics, or get learners to post topics for forum discussion.
Monitor the submission of the Submission Task, either through your learning management system or just simple get the learner to email the responses to you.
Project 1: Recognise documentation need/deficiency
This project has 2 parts. Learners should complete this project in the suggested sequence as the parts are related.
Part 1: Evaluating current documentation
Part 2: Analysing development opportunities
Learner Task 1
Activity 1.1
Review the requirements of ISO 17025:1999 to identify the management system and operational procedures required.
Review the requirements of ISO 9001:2000 to identify the management system elements and operational procedures that might be required by a laboratory for effective planning, operation and control of its processes.
Consolidate your findings into the draft of a report that could serve as the basis for a review of the SimuLab documented quality management system and your own laboratory's documented quality management system.
Guide to teachers
Learners will need to have copies of the ISO 17025:1999 and ISO 9000:2000 available to them. They may purchase a copy for themselves, as these documents are essential for this course. Alternatively, they may have access to copies from the library or their workplace. Learners are expected to know the requirements of the standards, and this activity enables them to demonstrate their understanding and interpretation of the standards to apply in the workplace.
Teachers should alert learners that the outcome of this activity would assist them in the Submission Task. Learners are reminded to save their work.
Learner Task 2
Activity 1.2
Organise a group discussion (either forum-based or face-to face) with other
learners. In preparation for this meeting, provide the other participants with a copy of your draft report and ask them to review your findings in light of their experience. Amend your report after your discussions.
Guide to teachers
Learners are encouraged to compare their finding with one another to assess their knowledge gained at this stage. For those who are employed in a laboratory, they may provide a copy of their report to the Laboratory Manager and/or their Quality Manager for feedback If the laboratory in which they are working in is NATA accredited, seek guidance from the appropriate people on the current NATA interpretations of these standards.
Learner Task 3
Submission Task 1.1
Complete your report on the documentation requirements of ISO 17025:1999 and ISO9001:2000, identifying the documented management and operational procedures required by these standards for the effective planning, operation and control of a laboratory's processes.