Specimen Handling & Lab Safety

01Bedside Labeling Requirements

Tubes must be labeled in the presence of the patient, before leaving the bedside, with at least two identifiers (full name plus date of birth or medical record number). Pre-labeling tubes before the draw is not acceptable, and location-based identifiers like room number don't count.

02Specimen Rejection Criteria

Labs must reject specimens that are unlabeled, mislabeled, or labeled only on the cap instead of the tube itself, since patient safety cannot be confirmed. A new specimen normally has to be recollected.

03Chain of Custody

For legally sensitive specimens (such as workplace drug testing), a documented chain of custody tracks every person who handled the sample from collection through result reporting, with signatures, tamper-evident seals, and a clear timeline — standard clinical draws don't require this level of documentation.

04Clotting Time and Centrifugation

Serum tubes typically need 30-60 minutes to clot fully at room temperature before centrifugation; separator (SST) tubes are often ready in about 15-30 minutes. Spinning before the clot fully forms can leave fibrin strands that interfere with testing.

05Specimen Storage Temperatures

Room temperature storage is roughly 20-25°C (68-77°F); refrigerated storage is 2-8°C; frozen storage is generally -20°C or colder. Using the wrong storage condition can degrade analytes and invalidate results.

06Sharps Safety and Exposure Protocol

Never recap a used needle. Activate the safety device and dispose of the needle immediately in an approved sharps container at the point of use. If a needlestick or other exposure occurs, wash the area, report it to a supervisor right away, and seek evaluation at occupational health/urgent care as soon as possible — ideally promptly, since post-exposure treatment is time-sensitive.