Pathology laboratories in Australia vary greatly in size. Tiny labs in regional towns or ‘stat’ labs in hospitals may employ only a handful of people, while large central laboratories may employ hundreds of staff.

Many of the jobs being done are similar to those in other large organisations. There are secretarial staff, clerks, receptionists, data entry staff, IT staff, storespeople and courier drivers. In pathology laboratories a large proportion of the staff carry out quite specialised jobs.

Specimen collectors are experts in all types of specimen collection but especially blood collection or phlebotomy. Some phlebotomists may have a nursing background but most have been trained by one of the pathology organisations or sometimes by external training providers.

Specimen processing staff receive the specimens as they reach the laboratory. Their job includes checking that specimens are correctly labelled, carrying out processing steps such as centrifugation and aliquotting (dividing the specimen up into smaller portions for specific tests) and forwarding test samples to the correct part of the laboratory.

Laboratory scientists and technicians perform most of the actual testing. Scientists will have a university degree in laboratory science and some have higher degrees such as a Masters or PhD. Technicians usually have a diploma in laboratory techniques.

The tasks performed by pathology laboratory scientists and technicians are remarkably varied. Some tests are still performed entirely manually such as looking for parasites in a specimen smear under the microscope. The majority of tests however are at least partly automated. Many chemical and immunoassay tests measuring simple chemicals or proteins and haematology tests analysing the cells in blood are performed on large and sophisticated automated analysers.

The scientific and technical staff operating these analysers must have a very wide knowledge of biological science, the principles of the assays being performed, the mechanics and software of the analyser and the sometimes, subtle signs that may indicate potential problems. They must also have a sound knowledge of quality control procedures and the interpretation of QC results since maintenance of analytical quality is central to all laboratory operations.

Senior scientists often assume considerable managerial responsibilities and they may have a postgraduate qualification in management as well as their scientific qualifications.