Startup Idea: Software for Tracking Compliance with Environmental Testing SOPs

Startup idea to develop a software that assists chemists in accurately following the steps of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in environmental testing. The software would serve as a checklist where steps can be timed, digitally signed, and potentially linked to external sensors for improved data integrity, SOP compliance and easier training of new employees.

What would be really nice in the environmental testing industry would be a program where a chemist could track their way through the steps of an SOP. While we do have our own internal SOPs, they're based completely on EPA protocol. In order to guarentee data integrity to our customers, and to prove to state and federal agencies that we're following the law, the SOPs must be followed to the letter, including the order in which even minor tasks are completed. As you know, real life happens, so people will often get pulled away from their work in the middle of a step. This can lead to confusion and possible mistakes. what's the software that a chemist could use as a checklist during extraction /analysis would save everyone a lot of pain. In case more than one person is working on a batch of samples the software could include a way to digitally sign each step, as well as time stamp everything so we'd know if something was, say, sitting at room temp too long, violating a SOP. Training new employees would also be easier because the steps they would need to preform would be presented in a linear fashion; no more reading between the lines of the EPA's methods. Input for outside censors for room temp and such would be great, too, helping us to pinpoint a problem based on SOP step, time and external physical factors. We have not.