Review and authorise the Kiama treatment plant licence report

What is going on

Kiama Shire's fortnightly licence monitoring sample VL26-08834 has been analysed for biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, ammonia, total nitrogen and total phosphorus, and the results are in the sample register at Awaiting review. The council must submit its monthly licence return and has asked for the report by Friday, when Priya Venkatesan is on leave. Amara Okonkwo has authorised you to act as signatory for general chemistry. The ammonia result is higher than the previous six results for this plant, and a nonconformance earlier this month recorded a holding time breach on a similar sample. The council's environment officer is likely to call for a verbal result if the report is late.

Your brief

Take the batch through technical review against the procedure, compare results with the plant's history, confirm quality control and nonconformance status, decide whether the report can be authorised and issue it or record why it cannot, and handle any verbal result request correctly.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

• Read the results review, authorisation and reporting procedure and confirm from the training and authorisation record that you are listed as an authorised signatory for the methods on the report.
• Review each analytical batch for calibration acceptance, blank, duplicate, control sample and spike results, and confirm the calculations, units and limits of reporting.
• Check the sample register for receipt temperature, holding times and any preparation notes, and check the nonconformance register for entries affecting this sample or these batches.
• Compare each result with the previous six months for the plant, investigate the elevated ammonia by checking the raw data, dilution and duplicate, and document your conclusion.
• Confirm the report states the methods, sampling and receipt dates, results with units, any qualifications, and the accreditation status of each test.
• Authorise the report and update the sample register and client job register to Reported, or record in the nonconformance register why release is withheld and what is needed.
• Prepare a verbal results record ready for use if the council calls, stating what may be said, by whom, and that the written report follows within one working day.

What someone in this role would produce

• Technical review checklist with decisions
• Historical comparison note on the ammonia result
• Authorised report or release withheld record
• Register status updates
• Verbal results record