Analysis of Stress Backlogs during Case-File Processing in Forensic Science Laboratory - Engineering

ENG > Vol.9 No.12, December 2017

Analysis of Stress Backlogs during Case-File Processing in Forensic Science Laboratory ()

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DOI: 10.4236/eng.2017.912063 1,270 Downloads 4,215 Views Citations

Author(s)

Gloria Cuthbert Omari¹, Samwel Victor Manyele², George Mwaluko¹

Affiliation(s)

¹Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
²Government Chemist Laboratory Authority, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

ABSTRACT

Case-file backlogs were identified as one of the cause factors affecting the competitiveness of the forensic science laboratory (FSL). Backlogs represent case-files that remain unprocessed or unreported within a selected time interval (year, week or month) which leads to increased customer complaints, rework, cost of analysis, degradation of biological samples, etc. Case-file backlogging was quantified in three consecutive years (2014 to 2016), using the following parameters: case-files received and case-files processed, difference of which gives case-files backlogged. There was a need to define time interval for a case-file to be regarded as backlogged (that is, one week), results of which can translate into backlogged case-files per month or year. A data collection tool was established and used for three work stations (forensic chemistry, biology/DNA and toxicology laboratories). The tool includes starting and ending date for each time interval, in which the numbers of case-files received and processed were entered followed by computing the backlogs. It was observed that, case-files reported increased between 2014 and 2016 leading to a decrease in backlogged case-files. The annual percentage of the case-files backlogged was highest for forensic toxicology. The highest number of case-files backlogged was observed for forensic chemistry, followed by forensic biology/DNA. The number of case-files backlogged per analyst per year was highest in 2014 and dropped continuously towards 2016, being comparably higher in forensic biology/DNA and chemistry. Probability density functions (PDFs) and cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) of backlogs data indicated that a large number of backlogs created in previous weeks were eliminated. It was concluded that the effect of case-file backlogging on FSL competitiveness can be minimized by continued management effort in backlog elimination.

KEYWORDS

Forensic Science Laboratory, Case-File Processing, Backlogs, Forensic Chemistry, Forensic Toxicology, Forensic Biology/DNA, Case-File Influx

Share and Cite:

Omari, G. , Manyele, S. and Mwaluko, G. (2017) Analysis of Stress Backlogs during Case-File Processing in Forensic Science Laboratory. Engineering, 9, 1060-1096. doi: 10.4236/eng.2017.912063.

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