US Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Pesticide Programs

Office of Pesticide Programs

Microbiology Laboratory

Environmental Science Center, Ft. Meade, MD

Standard Operating Procedure for
Establishment of Control Numbers and Tracking of
Laboratory Supplies

SOP Number: QC-09-07

Date Revised: 12-12-16


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SOP No. QC-09-07
Date Revised 12-12-16
Page 1 of 6

SOP Number

QC-09-07

Title

Establishment of Control Numbers and Tracking of Laboratory
Supplies

Scope

This protocol describes the procedure used to establish the control
numbers for tracking chemicals, media, reagents, biological
materials and disposable test carriers.

Application

Tracking supplies from date of receipt is an essential quality control
practice.





Approval Date

SOP Developer:



Print Name:

SOP Reviewer



Print Name:

Quality Assurance Unit



Print Name:

Branch Chief



Print Name:





Date SOP issued:



Controlled copy
number:



Date SOP withdrawn:




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SOP No. QC-09-07
Date Revised 12-12-16
Page 2 of 6

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents	Page Number

1.

DEFINITIONS

3

2.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

3

3.

PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING

3

4.

INSTRUMENT CALIBRATION

3

5.

SAMPLE HANDLING AND STORAGE

3

6.

QUALITY CONTROL

3

7.

INTERFERENCES

3

8. NON-CONFORMING DATA

3

9.

DATA MANAGEMENT

4

10.

CAUTIONS

4

11.

SPECIAL APPARATUS AND MATERIALS

4

12.

PROCEDURE AND ANALYSIS

4

13.

DATA ANALYSIS/CALCULATIONS

6

14.

FORMS AND DATA SHEETS

6

15.

REFERENCES

6


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SOP No. QC-09-07
Date Revised 12-12-16
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1. Definitions

1.	OMLIMS = OPP Microbiology Laboratory Information Management
System

2.	Chemicals = Includes materials such as acids, bases, alcohols,
disinfectants, stains, test kits, and media components (e.g., sodium
chloride, Tween 80, etc.).

3.	Media = Includes powder (e.g., Letheen Broth), solid (e.g., Trypticase Soy
Agar plates; purchased already prepared), and liquid media (e.g.,
Minimum Essential Medium; purchased already prepared) used for the
growth of microorganisms and cell cultures.

4.	Reagents = Includes materials such as buffer and saline solutions.

5.	Biological materials = Microorganisms purchased from appropriate
vendors or received from other federal agencies for special studies,
tracked per SOP MB-02, Tracking of Test Microorganisms, and biological
indicators.

6.	Disposable test carriers.

2. Health and
Safety

1. Handle tracked materials according to the manufacturer's instructions or
information stated in the Safety Data Sheets (SDS).

3. Personnel
Qualifications
and Training

1. Refer to SOP ADM-04, OPP Microbiology Laboratory Training.

4. Instrument
Calibration

Not Applicable

5. Sample

Handling and
Storage

1. Tracked materials are handled and stored in the appropriate cabinet or
refrigerator according to the manufacturer's recommendation or as noted
in the SDS.

6. Quality Control

1. For quality control purposes, enter supply receipt information (e.g.,

received date, expiration date, vendor, catalog number, lot number, status,
room number, etc.) into OMLIMS.

7. Interferences

1.	Tracked laboratory materials must have a control number in order to be
used by the laboratory.

2.	If an item is found in the laboratory which does not have a control
number, and the control number cannot be created by determining the date
of receipt (see section 12.3), then discard the item.

8. Non-
conforming
Data

1. In the event that a control number was incorrectly assigned or entered
incorrectly into OMLIMS, the analyst should correct the control number
on the item and in the database immediately as per section 12.4.a.


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SOP No. QC-09-07
Date Revised 12-12-16
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9. Data

Management

1. Data (i.e., OMLIMS reports) will be archived consistent with SOP ADM-
03, Records and Archives, in secured file cabinets in room D217.

10. Cautions

1.	To maintain consistency and accuracy in the OMLIMS database, it is
preferable to limit access to one or two staff members.

2.	It is analysts' responsibility to check the expiration date of all pre-
sterilized materials purchased for use in the lab (e.g., plastic loops, pipet
tips, filter units, etc.) to ensure expired materials are not in use.

11. Special

Apparatus and
Materials

1. The OMLIMS is written in Microsoft Access with the data and system
stored on the G: drive (G:\MLB\Omlims and ATP Tracking) at the
Environmental Science Center, Fort Meade, MD.

12. Procedure and
Analysis

1.	Tracked laboratory materials are logged into the OMLIMS upon receipt
and assigned a control number.

2.	The analyst must verify and document on their test paperwork that pre-
sterilized items are within the manufacturer's expiration date prior to their
use. See Cautions, section 10.

12.1 Purpose of
OMLIMS

a. The OMLIMS is used to track supplies and contain important
information such as vendor, catalog number, lot number, control
number, expiration date, sterility requirements, storage conditions
and supply status categories (i.e., Full, In Use, Discarded, Expired or
Sent Out).

12.2 Control
Number
Assignment

a.	The control number consists of four parts: 1) The first digit identifies
items as purchased with OPP funds ( R) or items purchased with
funds from other organizations (H); 2) the next six digits represent
the date the item was received: MMDDYY where MM=month, DD=
day, and YY=the last two digits of the calendar year; 3) the next
seven digits represent the expiration date of the item: EMMDDYY
where E=expiration, MM=month, DD=day, and YY=the last two
digits of the calendar year; and 4) the suffix where the digits after the
dash act as a counter for the number of items received on the same
date.

b.	For example, if the first item received and logged in on 10-31-16 has
a manufacturer-assigned expiration date of 12-2018 (no day given so
last day of the month is used), assign the control number
R103116E123118-01.

c.	For additional items received on the same day, assign a control
number with a consecutively-increasing suffix (e.g., -02, -03, etc.).


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SOP No. QC-09-07
Date Revised 12-12-16
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d.	If multiple quantities of the same item are received on the same day,
add an alphabetical character to the suffix to differentiate the items.

i.	For example, if the first item received on 10-31-16 consisted
of three identical containers of dehydrated media X, same lot
and expiration date of 12/31/18, the control numbers assigned
would be R103116E123118-01 A, R103116E123118-01B,
andR103116E123118-01C.

ii.	The second items received on 10-31-16, consisting of two
identical (i.e., same lot and expiration date of 05/31/18)
containers of an alcohol, would be assigned the control
numbers R103116E053118-02A and R103116E053118-02B.

e.	If an item does not have a manufacturer-assigned expiration date,
assign an expiration date that is not greater than 5 years from the date
the item was received.

i. Test carriers (e.g., stainless steel discs or penicylinders, glass
slides, etc.) are the exception to the expiration date
requirement. Assign an expiration date of "E000000" to test
carriers. A shipment of glass slides received on 11/30/16
would be assigned the control number R113016E000000-01.

f.	Record the control number directly on the item or its packaging, or
record it on a label and affix it to the item.

12.3 Items Found in
Laboratory
with No
Control
Number

a.	If a tracked laboratory material is discovered to have no control
number, an attempt should be made to assign one.

b.	Begin by searching vendor packing slips, purchase records, or other
information to identify the date the item was received.

c.	If a date received is established, assign a control number to the item
using this information. Determine the expiration date and suffix
components of the control number as per section 12.2.

d.	If no date received information is available, the item may be used if it
is labeled with a manufacturer-assigned expiration date (e.g.,

12/31/18). In this case, a control number is assigned using the
current date (e.g., R103116E123118-04). Make a note of the control
number assignment and place it in the notebook containing the
current packing slips. The item may be used until the expiration date.

e.	If no date received or expiration date can be determined, the item is
discarded.

12.4 Changes to
Control

a. In the event that a control number was incorrectly assigned or entered
incorrectly into OMLIMS, analyst(s) with OMLIMS access should


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SOP No. QC-09-07
Date Revised 12-12-16
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Numbers

correct the control number on the item and in the database
immediately upon discovery of the error.

b.	Items for which there is no manufacturer-assigned expiration date
(see section 12.2.e) may be evaluated once the laboratory-assigned
expiration date is reached. If the laboratory determines that the
quality of the item is not compromised (e.g., not damaged, no
precipitate or color change evident, etc.) and further use of the item is
anticipated, analysts may change the control number to assign a new
expiration date, as long as the newly assigned expiration date is not
greater than five years after the date that the item was received.
Change the control number on both the item and in OMLIMS.

i. Test carriers (e.g., stainless steel discs or penicylinders, glass
slides, etc.) are the exception to the five-year maximum
expiration date. The expiration date for these items may be
extended as needed for testing purposes.

c.	When changing control numbers recorded on items, strike through
the portion of the old number which has changed and write the new
set of numbers above it. Write the analyst's initials next to the new
set of numbers to document the originator of the change to the
control number.

12.5 Monthly
OMLIMS
Reports

a.	Reports containing information on items received, expired, and soon-
to-be expiring (see section 14) can be generated from the OMLIMS
database if required for inventory management.

b.	The analyst in charge of entering information into OMLIMS will, at
a minimum, generate and archive the Laboratory Supplies which
Will Expire Within 30 Days of a Particular Date report for the
purpose of inventory management.

13. Data Analysis/
Calculations

None

14. Forms and Data
Sheets

Examples of Reports:

Laboratory Supplies Received Report

Laboratory Supplies Which Will Expire Within 30 Days of a Particular Date

15. References

None


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