Sample and Test Result Log

Who this is for

Samples out and results back, on one running list. Each line carries the sample reference, where it was taken, when it went to the laboratory and when the result came back, with the turnaround counted in days.

Anyone who takes samples and waits for somebody else to test them — water and food sampling, soil and feed testing, swabbing rounds, laboratory submissions from farms, kitchens, pools, sites and workshops.

What this helps you track

• A sample reference that ties the bottle, the form and this line together
• Exactly where and when each sample was taken, and by whom
• The date it went away and the date the result came back
• The result written down as the laboratory reported it
• How long each result took, so a slow turnaround is visible

How to use it

1. Write the site, the laboratory or testing service and the period the sheet covers at the top.
2. Label the container and this line with the same reference before the sample leaves the point it was taken from.
3. Record the sampling point precisely — a tap, a tank, a field, a surface — so the same point can be sampled again.
4. Fill in the date sent when it goes and the date resulted when the report arrives.
5. Copy the result across exactly as the laboratory reported it, units and all, rather than rounding or summarising it.
6. Record the outcome your own specification gives the result, and write what was done about it in the notes.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

What limits or values does the sheet use to judge a result?

None. No limits, units or interpretations are supplied here, because they belong to your own specification, your laboratory's report and the rules where you are. The outcome column records the judgement you or your laboratory made.

Why record the date sent as well as the date taken?

Because the gap between them is often where a sample goes wrong, and because the turnaround the laboratory is judged on starts when it receives the sample, not when you filled the bottle.

Can I log more than one test on the same sample?

Write one line per test and repeat the sample reference. That keeps each result and its own turnaround on its own line without losing the link back to the sample.

Does this replace the laboratory report?

No. It is the index to your reports: which samples exist, what happened to them and where the paper is. Keep the reports themselves and file them against the reference.