Elements and Performance Criteria

RANGE STATEMENT
The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included.
Codes of practice
Where reference is made to industry codes of practice, and/or Australian/international standards, it is expected the latest version will be used
Standards, codes, procedures and/or enterprise requirements may include:
Australian and international standards, such as:
AS ISO 17025-2005 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories
AS/NZS 2243 Set:2006 Safety in laboratories set
AS/NZS 2982.1:1997 Laboratory design and construction - General requirements
AS/NZS ISO 14000 Set:2005 Environmental management standards set
AS/NZS ISO 9000 Set:2008 Quality management systems set
AS ISO 1000-1998 The international system of units (SI) and its application
Australian code of good manufacturing practice for medicinal products (GMP)
calibration and maintenance schedules
cleaning, hygiene and personal hygiene requirements
data quality procedures
enterprise procedures, SOPs and operating manuals
enterprise recording and reporting procedures
equipment startup, operation and shutdown procedures
incident and accident/injury reports
material safety data sheets (MSDS)
material, production and product specifications
national measurement regulations and guidelines
principles of GLP
production and laboratory schedules
quality manuals, equipment and procedure manuals
quality system and continued improvement processes
safety requirements for equipment, materials or products
sampling procedures (labelling, preparation, storage, transport and disposal)
schematics, work flows and laboratory layouts
statutory and enterprise OHS requirements
stock records and inventory
test procedures (validated and authorised)
training program contents
waste minimisation, containment, processing and disposal procedures
Electrophoretic methods, including both analytical and preparative procedures
Electrophoretic methods, including both analytical and preparative procedures, may use:
vertical or horizontal apparatus
support materials, such as cellulose acetate
gels, such as agarose and polyacrylamide
buffer solutions
denaturing electrophoresis, such as SDS-PAGE
blot transfer procedures in conjunction with electrophoresis, such as Western and Southern Blot transfers, agarose and polyacrylamide DNA gels
capillary electrophoresis
Preparation of sample
Preparation of sample may include pre-treatment processes, such as:
identification of any hazardous properties associated with the samples and/or analytical chemicals
grinding, dissolving, extraction, centrifuging, refluxing, evaporation, washing and drying
determination of and, if appropriate, removal of any contaminants, impurities or interfering substances
Tests
Tests may include methods for:
control of starting materials, in-process materials and finished products (e.g. food and manufacturing)
therapeutic drug analysis
forensic testing
diagnostic pathology tests
determination of chemical analytes
special conditions for handling minute sample volumes
environmental monitoring
problem solving techniques for non-routine samples
troubleshooting enterprise processes
Common analytical procedure and equipment problems
Common analytical procedure and equipment problems may include:
problems with interfering substances
inappropriate support material or operating procedures
toxic or hazardous materials, including impurities in samples
lack of suitable or high purity reference standards
changes in operating variables, such as field strength, constant current, constant power, buffers and pH
problems with obtaining adequate sample volume
Hazards
Hazards may include:
electric shock
biohazards:
microbiological organisms and agents associated with soil, air, water, blood and blood products, and human or animal tissue and fluids
mycotoxins
chemicals:
acrylamide
acids (e.g. sulphuric, perchloric and hydrofluoric)
hazardous materials, heavy metals, pesticides
sharps and broken glassware
aerosols from broken centrifuge tubes and pipetting
flammable liquids and gases
cryogenics, such as dry ice and liquid nitrogen
sources of ignition
disturbance or interruption of services
Addressing hazards
Addressing hazards may involve:
use of MSDS
labelling of samples, reagents, aliquoted samples and hazardous materials
personal protective equipment, such as gloves, safety glasses and coveralls
use of fumehoods and direct extraction of vapours and gases
use of appropriate equipment, such as biohazard containers, laminar flow cabinets, Class I, II and III biohazard cabinets
use of Class PCII, PCIII and PCIV physical containment laboratories
handling and storage of all hazardous materials and equipment in accordance with labelling, MSDS and manufacturer's instructions
Occupational health and safety (OHS) and environmental management requirements
OHS and environmental management requirements:
all operations must comply with enterprise OHS and environmental management requirements, which may be imposed through state/territory or federal legislation - these requirements must not be compromised at any time
all operations assume the potentially hazardous nature of samples and require standard precautions to be applied
where relevant, users should access and apply current industry understanding of infection control issued by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and State and Territory Departments of Health

EVIDENCE GUIDE
The Evidence Guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package.

Overview of assessment

Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit
Assessors should ensure that candidates can:
interpret client requests, test methods and procedures accurately
safely set up and shut down equipment using enterprise procedures
check the calibration/qualification status of equipment
prepare standards and samples appropriately
choose and optimise procedures and equipment settings to suit sample/test requirements
operate equipment to obtain valid and reliable data
make approved adjustments to procedures for non-routine samples
recognise atypical data/results
troubleshoot common analytical procedure and equipment problems
apply theoretical knowledge to interpret data and make relevant conclusions
record and report data/results in accordance with enterprise procedures
maintain security, integrity and traceability of samples and documentation
follow OHS procedures and principles of GLP.

Context of and specific resources for assessment
This unit of competency is to be assessed in the workplace or simulated workplace environment.
This unit of competency may be assessed with:
MSL925001A Analyse data and report results.
Resources may include:
standard laboratory equipped with routine electrophoresis equipment, laboratory reagents and equipment
SOPs and testing methods.

Method of assessment
The following assessment methods are suggested:
review of test data/results obtained by the candidate over time to ensure accuracy, consistency and timeliness of results
inspection of test records and workplace documentation completed by the candidate
feedback from peers and supervisors
observation of candidate applying a range of electrophoretic techniques
oral or written questioning of chemical principles and concepts, electrophoretic techniques and enterprise procedures.
In all cases, practical assessment should be supported by questions to assess underpinning knowledge and those aspects of competency which are difficult to assess directly.
Where applicable, reasonable adjustment must be made to work environments and training situations to accommodate ethnicity, age, gender, demographics and disability.
Access must be provided to appropriate learning and/or assessment support when required.
The language, literacy and numeracy demands of assessment should not be greater than those required to undertake the unit of competency in a work like environment.

This competency in practice
Industry representatives have provided the case studies below to illustrate the practical application of this unit of competency and to show its relevance in a workplace setting.
Environmental
The advent of DNA typing in the mid-1980s has enormously increased the ability of forensic technicians to identify individuals uniquely by testing a variety of their body fluids found at the crime scene. The samples obtained from the scene are first treated to extract the DNA with short tandem repeated (STR) markers. After isolating the DNA from its cells, specific regions are copied by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The resulting PCR products are then separated and detected in order to characterise the STR region being examined. The most common separation methods used today are slab gel and capillary electrophoresis (CE).
Given the enormous number of DNA samples to be processed, technicians frequently run fully automated injection, separation and detection stops. They use computerised data acquisition to enable rapid analysis and subsequent searching of digital storage of DNA results.
Food processing
Technicians who work in the food and beverage processing industries regularly monitor the purity of food additives, such as dyes and colouring agents in products, such as sweets and soft drinks. For example, technicians may sample a batch of soft drink by low temperature evaporation of a known percentage of the water and then subject the remains to electrophoresis separation technique. In this way, both the identification and concentration of a dye (or other additive) present in the soft drink can be determined. Technicians may also be required to examine the electrophoresis results for any indication of harmful or toxic impurities, which may have inadvertently contaminated the product. Quality control and use of appropriate standards are important components of these analytical procedures.