ARUP receives on average more than 23,000 specimens/day for laboratory testing. The residual samples are stored in trays with a capacity of 450 tubes at −20 °C for up to a year. Previously, the disposal of these samples required a minimum of 1 full-time equivalent (FTE) for the manual disposal of up to 39,000 samples/day. We report the development of an automated workcell for the disposal of these samples. The workcell has reduced the FTE requirement by sixfold to 0.18 and has minimized potential biohazardous exposures.
HawkerC. D.GarrS. B.HamiltonL. T.PenroseJ. R.AshwoodE. R.WeissR. L.Automated transport and sorting system in a large reference laboratory: Part 1. Evaluation of needs and alternatives and development of a plan. Clin Chem2002, 48, 1751–1760.
2.
HawkerC. D.RobertsW. L.GarrS. B.HamiltonL. T.PenroseJ. R.AshwoodE. R.WeissR. L.Automated transport and sorting system in a large reference laboratory: Part 2. Implementation of the system and performance measures over three years. Clin Chem2002, 48, 1761–1767.
