August 15, 2024 · Author: Third Wave Analytics

Revolutionizing Lab Training Management with Lockbox QMS

Lab Training Management

One of the key elements to maintaining stringent quality and safety standards in your lab is ensuring that all lab personnel are adequately trained and up-to-date with the latest protocols and regulatory requirements. However, managing the training requirements for an entire lab staff can be a daunting task. The Lockbox QMS Training module is designed to streamline training management and provide quality managers with the tools they need to efficiently manage employee training records and track training completion.

This powerful quality management system gives you the ability to track training requirements, course participation, and completion status. It also enables the configuration of role-based training curriculums to ensure that each team member receives the specific training they need. To make it easy to review each team member’s training history, all training records are stored in a user-friendly “Report Card”. With features such as alerts and reminders for incomplete training requirements and expired certifications, the Lockbox QMS Training module helps keep everyone in your lab up to date. In this article, we will explore the key challenges faced in lab training management and the benefits of implementing a digital training management system in your lab.

Common Challenges in Training Management:

Tracking and documenting training completion

The complexity of laboratory training requirements, coupled with the need for rigorous documentation, makes tracking and managing employee training a challenging task. Many labs maintain their employee training records using a paper-based system. This can be cumbersome, prone to errors, and difficult to update or retrieve. The Lockbox QMS Training module provides your lab with a searchable, centralized repository where all training records and requirements can be stored, updated, and accessed.

• View employees’ training Report Cards to see what training has been completed and identify any trainings that are overdue.
• Show what Protocols, Equipment, and Controlled Documents the team member is trained on.
• Prevent team members from executing Protocols or utilizing Equipment if their training is overdue.
• Allow team members to be designated as approved trainers for training courses.
• Store all training certifications and past training records.

Managing training for diverse roles and responsibilities within the lab

Laboratory personnel often have a diverse range of roles, each requiring specific training. Technicians, researchers, quality control personnel, and administrative staff all need training plans tailored to their specific roles. The Lockbox QMS Training module gives quality and lab managers the ability to assign a training plan to each team member based on their role in the lab. For example, a lab technician may be assigned a training plan that requires training on the UV-VIS spectrophotometer, fluorometer, and centrifuge. Lockbox QMS can be used to notify the team member of their required training and track their training progress and completion.

• Assign roles to team members based on their job requirements and responsibilities.
• Assign a list of training courses to each team member based on their role.
• For team members with multiple roles, multiple training courses can be added to their training curriculums.

Ensuring compliance with regulatory training requirements

During audits, accurate and up-to-date training records are essential to demonstrate compliance with regulatory standards. These records provide evidence that the lab adheres to the required standards and that all personnel are qualified to perform their duties. The Lockbox QMS Training module makes it easy to prepare for audits and stay compliant by organizing and storing all your lab’s training records in one location. Notifications include alerts when trainings are overdue, to help prevent lab staff from using equipment or performing experiments without the required training.

• Store detailed, accessible training records to track training completion, certification renewals, and participation in ongoing training.
• For each training, capture the training participants, training date, and trainer.
• Easily search by team member or training course to retrieve specific training records.
• Monitor training status to ensure all employees are up to date with their training requirements.
• Automate retraining by setting training frequency and reminder notifications.

Streamlining Training Management with Lockbox QMS

An electronic quality management system helps solve many of the challenges that arise when managing a laboratory’s training records and training documents. The Lockbox QMS Training module provides a centralized location for all training records, making it easy to store, access, and manage training information. For team members with complex training requirements, Lockbox QMS allows for the configuration of role-based training that ensures each team member receives the appropriate training for their specific role. In addition, the Report Card functionality provides lab directors and supervisors with easy access to an accurate, up-to-date training record for each team member. When it comes time to prepare for audits, reports in Lockbox QMS document each training provided, the team members who completed each training, and who approved it. This complete, accurate documentation provides clear evidence of compliance. Together, these training management tools work to streamline the training management process, automating administrative tasks and reducing the workload for lab and quality managers.

Customization, Integration, and Security

Like all Lockbox products, the Lockbox QMS Training module is highly customizable. The Third Wave Analytics implementation team will work with your users to understand key parts of your organization and workflow including:

• Who is trained and who picks approved trainers?
• The training life cycle: Who needs training and how often does training happen?
• The access model: Who can access training records and update training courses?

This process enables our implementation team to create a secure training module tailored to your lab’s specific needs. Lockbox QMS also includes Document Control and Quality Events modules that can be easily connected with the Training module. This ensures that only approved training documents are available and allows Quality Events like CAPAs and Deviations to be connected to training records. Lockbox QMS also comes pre-integrated with Lockbox LIMS, which gives you the ability to connect Protocols, Equipment, or Controlled Documents to Training and Quality Event records.