Table 1.

Most common problems reported or observed during on-site evaluation visits of the eight selected health institution medical laboratories from December 2011 to December 2012

Problems found	Laboratories N (%)
Laboratory safety
No separate area for TB work	8 (100)
No adequate ventilation	5 (62.5)
No biohazard waste bin with a lid	4 (50)
Improper use of PPE	7 (87.5)
Inappropriate cleaning procedure	7 (87.5)
Laboratory reagents
Expired reagents or no label	3 (37.5)
Not filtered before use	7 (87.5)
Filtered once a month	4 (50)
Laboratory supplies
No staining rack	5 (62.5)
No wire loop	6 (75)
No funnel	4 (50)
No analytical balance	8 (100)
Microscope
Not sufficient	4 (50)
Inadequate light source	6 (75)
Objective not cleaned after positive slide	7 (87.5)
No routine care/daily maintenance	7 (87.5)
Smearing and staining procedures
Background staining not acceptable	3 (37.5)
Background material doesn’t represent sputum	4 (50)
Inappropriate smear thickness	5 (62.5)
Inappropriate smear size	4 (50)
Report with grading	6 (75)
Include control smears
Daily	2 (25)
New batch of reagents	5 (62.5)
Never	2 (25)
Time taken to examine 100 fields
5 min	4 (50)
10 min	3 (37.5)
15 min	1 (12.5)
Administrative
High workload	4 (50)
Incomplete laboratory request form	7 (87.5)
No NTP approved report forms	3 (37.5)
EQA
Participated	7 (87.5)
Rechecking result received	3 (37.5)