WHAT DOES A HISTOLOGY TECHNICIAN DO?

Published: Sep 10, 2025 - The Histology Technician is responsible for preparing high-quality tissue samples by embedding, sectioning, staining, and labeling slides for diagnostic and research purposes. This role involves operating specialized equipment such as microtomes, performing routine and special staining techniques, maintaining accurate records, and ensuring compliance with laboratory standards and regulatory requirements. The technician also supports team communication, contributes to the training of students and residents, and assists with departmental conferences and cross-functional pathology tasks.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Histology Technician

1. Histology Technician Accountabilities

  • Specimen Handling: Be responsible for accessioning of tissue specimens.
  • Pathology Assistance: Assist Pathologist Assistants/Techs.
  • Tissue Processing: Process and embed tissue specimens.
  • Microtomy Skills: Perform microtomy and stain tissue sections.
  • Quality Assurance: Evaluate and recommend adjustments for processes and procedures as part of quality assurance.
  • Equipment Maintenance: Maintain equipment in accordance with defined policies and protocols, and log preventive and remedial maintenance of equipment.
  • Solution Preparation: Prepare solutions and stains following standard laboratory formulas and procedures.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Comply with all laboratory policies and procedures, OSHA, and CLIA regulations.
  • Safety Compliance: Follow all OSHA and lab safety guidelines and maintain a safe and clean environment through daily cleaning of work areas.
  • Work Area Maintenance: Clean up spills and perform all other duties necessary to sustain an appropriate work area.
  • Survey Preparation: Participate in the preparation for periodic Anesthesia surveys.

2. Histology Technician Functions

  • Tissue Embedding: Embed surgical and ME tissue, perform microtomy at various thicknesses.
  • Staining Techniques: Perform routine H&E staining, special staining, and immunohistochemical staining following established protocols.
  • Specimen Grossing: Gross small biopsies and other specimens can be entirely submitted.
  • Surgical Pathology Support: Assist with frozen section preparation and photography, and process requests and referrals of specimens and slides in Surgical Pathology.
  • Cryotomy Skills: Perform cryotomy of specimens for optimal demonstration of various tissue structures.
  • Immunofluorescence Staining: Perform immunofluorescence staining on frozen sections.
  • Cytology and Cytogenetics Support: Provide microtomy services to Cytology with FNAs and cell block specimens and to Cytogenetics with FISH specimens.
  • Training Support: Assist in the training and instruction of new employees, students, and residents.
  • Quality Control: Perform and evaluate quality control, instrument maintenance, and troubleshooting processes.
  • Specimen Management: Process and manage specimens sent to reference laboratories.
  • Billing Accuracy: Ensure adequate billing charges.

3. Histology Technician Job Description

  • Histology Procedures: Perform routine histology, including specimen processing, embedding, slide preparation, microtomy, staining, and immunohistochemistry.
  • Specimen Integrity: Maintain diagnostic viability of all specimens and ensure correct patient labeling.
  • Special Stains: Correctly prepare special stains and solutions.
  • Case Verification: Routinely check and verify that surgical case numbers match blocks and slides, and print labels.
  • Recordkeeping: Record in laboratory logbooks all slides and stains prepared daily.
  • Data Entry: Log appropriate information into the surgical pathology computer system.
  • Equipment Maintenance: Perform routine maintenance and cleaning of equipment and troubleshoot minor equipment failures.
  • Remedial Actions: Document remedial actions such as repairs or repeated tests.
  • Safety Protocols: Follow appropriate laboratory safety protocols.
  • Quality Control: Adhere to laboratory quality control policies and document all quality control activities.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Ensure compliance with all local, federal, CLIA, and CAP regulations.
  • Attendance Standards: Adhere to attendance and punctuality guidelines.

4. Histology Technician Overview

  • Procedure Execution: Follow established protocols to perform various procedures and tests, including the most complex for an assigned area.
  • Test Assistance: Refer to Technologist, Histology II, supervisory, or lead staff members for assistance in the performance and interpretation of complex or unusual tests and procedures.
  • Laboratory Requirements: Establish requirements and needs of a working laboratory, acquiring and maintaining par levels of dyes, stains, other solutions, and necessary equipment.
  • Supply Management: Organize and maintain the laboratory and chemical supplies in a manner consistent with chemical hygiene, bloodborne pathogens, and other institutional requirements for proper laboratory function and safety.
  • Routine Procedures: Perform all routine procedures and required quality control.
  • Specimen Accessioning: Ensure proper and professional accessioning of human tissue specimens, accurate and timely logging of specimens, and preparation and presentation of the same with the technical expertise required for microscopic examination by the surgeon or pathologist.
  • Tissue Preparation: Prepare human tissue from surgical and diagnostic sources.
  • Fixation and Examination: Perform specialized fixation and microscopic examination to determine if the sections have been properly prepared and stained.
  • Equipment Calibration: Clean, maintain, and calibrate all laboratory equipment involved with surgical procedures to obtain skin specimens.
  • Histographic Interpretation: Read and interpret histographic displays (maps) and properly label specimens.

5. Histology Technician Details and Accountabilities

  • Maintenance Records: Assist in keeping accurate records of preventative and corrective maintenance performed by outside vendors.
  • Equipment Readiness: Maintain operational readiness of equipment.
  • Supply Management: Assure adequate levels of reagents and work supplies, monitor utilization, and order replacements.
  • Waste Compliance: Comply with waste management guidelines.
  • Tissue Processing: Embed, cut, and perform routine stains on tissue sections.
  • Embedding Guidelines: Follow accepted and pathologist-specific guidelines for embedding tissue.
  • Section Quality: Consistently produce high-quality tissue sections that are free of wrinkles, thickness variations, and artifacts.
  • Timely Sectioning: Complete sectioning of tissues promptly.
  • Slide Processing: Accurately process slides through de-paraffinization and routine staining.
  • Issue Resolution: Troubleshoot and resolve embedding and staining issues as they occur.
  • Stain Knowledge: Understand the technical and theoretical aspects of routine and special stains.
  • Reagent Preparation: Successfully make reagents and related materials.
  • Stain Procedures: Perform stain procedures according to established methods.
  • Quality Documentation: Utilize appropriate control tissues with various stains and complete QC documentation.

6. Histology Technician Additional Details

  • Feedback Quality: Consistently receive verifiable feedback from pathologists that stains are acceptable.
  • Problem Resolution: Troubleshoot and resolve staining problems.
  • Corrective Documentation: Document corrective action taken and prepare slides for reading by the pathologist.
  • Coverslipping Skills: Coverslip slides using manual or automated methods.
  • Slide Labeling: Label slides accurately, ensuring positive patient identification with clear notation of slide source and stain procedure.
  • Workflow Support: Facilitate the distribution of slides between pathologists to provide a timely progression of workflow.
  • Frozen Sections: Perform and complete frozen sections.
  • Section Quality: Produce quality frozen section slides with accurate identification of the patient and source.
  • Turnaround Efficiency: Perform frozen section procedure and deliver slides to pathologist in a manner that allows for a 20-minute or less turnaround time.
  • Section Documentation: Document receipt and delivery of the frozen section.
  • Cryostat Maintenance: Follow written protocols for cleaning, defrosting, and decontamination of the cryostats, and document in the QC manual.
  • Departmental Tasks: Participate in routine departmental tasks.
  • Specimen Filing: File slides and paraffin blocks accurately and independently.

7. Histology Technician Essential Functions

  • Independent Work: Work independently without supervision when performing the duties of the job description according to competency training, knowledge, and previous experience.
  • Specimen Mounting: Mount tissue specimens on glass slides.
  • Tissue Staining: Stain tissue specimens with dyes or other chemicals to make cell details visible under microscopes.
  • Microtomy Skills: Cut sections of body tissues for microscopic examination using microtomes.
  • Slide Examination: Examine slides under microscopes to ensure tissue preparation meets laboratory requirements.
  • Temperature Monitoring: Monitor and record daily temperatures and maintain equipment logs.
  • CAP Monitoring: Perform any assigned daily CAP-required monitoring.
  • Equipment Maintenance: Maintain laboratory equipment such as microscopes, microtomes, immunostainers, tissue processors, embedding centers, and water baths.
  • Waste Coordination: Coordinate pick-up and removal of hazardous and bio-hazardous waste.
  • Equipment Operation: Operate computerized laboratory equipment to dehydrate, decalcify, or microincinerate tissue samples.
  • Histology Procedures: Conduct routine histology.
  • Tissue Identification: Identify tissue structures or cell components to be used in the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of diseases.

8. Histology Technician General Responsibilities

  • Tissue Processing: Cut, trim, and process embedded sections of hard and soft tissue of any size and condition for histological evaluation.
  • Specimen Embedding: Process and embed bones, biopsies, cores, tissue, and other diagnostic material.
  • Staining Techniques: Perform routine and special stains, immunochemistry stains, and immunofluorescence stains, prepare solutions, perform dilutions, and work up and prepare antibodies for immunochemistry stains.
  • Quality Control: Perform quality control and equipment maintenance.
  • Instrument Maintenance: Maintain instruments by using preventive maintenance procedures (i.e., water bath, microtome, tissue processor, automated coverslip, etc.).
  • Organizational Skills: Exhibit organizational skills and conscientiousness to allow for precise and accurate results on time.
  • Time Management: Practice time management and prioritize work.
  • Specimen Management: Maintain specimen blocks and slides.
  • Interpersonal Relations: Maintain good quality relations between staff, patients, physicians, and other departments to promote a good working environment and use appropriate interpersonal and customer service skills.
  • Project Support: Assist with projects, improvements, and policy updates.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Adhere to all Northwest Community Hospital standards, policies, and procedures, as well as OSHA, CAP, and JC standards.

9. Histology Technician Key Accountabilities

  • Case Accessioning: Accession paraffin cases.
  • Tissue Preparation: Prepare sections of human tissue for microscopic evaluation and patient diagnosis, using techniques to gross, embed, section, stain, and mount tissue from surgical procedures.
  • Equipment Maintenance: Maintain all laboratory equipment and log cases in the biopsy book.
  • Material Submission: Submit any outside materials needed for review.
  • Staining Procedures: Perform recuts and additional stains, including special and IHC stains, as requested by the Pathologist.
  • Record Management: Calculate monthly totals for each doctor, maintain QC/QA records, and update the send-out log.
  • Transcription Skills: Transcribe gross and print review copies.
  • CLIA Documentation: Maintain documentation as required by CLIA guidelines.
  • Inventory Monitoring: Monitor inventory levels of supplies and equipment on a regular basis.
  • Supply Management: Order supplies for the laboratory and maintain a log of supplies as they are ordered.
  • Case Troubleshooting: Troubleshoot any cases with inconsistencies.
  • General Duties: Perform other related duties incidental to the work described herein.
  • Standards Compliance: Maintain standards consistent with the Center for Surgical Dermatology Mission Statement and compliance with the Center for Surgical Dermatology Compliance Program.
  • Professional Conduct: Treat staff, physicians, visitors, and patients with dignity and respect.
  • Ethical Adherence: Adhere to the Code of Conduct and Mission and Value Statement.

10. Histology Technician Responsibilities

  • Tissue Preparation: Responsible for cutting, staining, and preparing tissue samples for the pathologist to review.
  • Procedure Prioritization: Prioritize testing procedures, complete those procedures in an accurate and timely manner, and maintain accurate records of all tests done in accordance with established policies, procedures, and regulations.
  • Embedding SOP: Follow the SOP for embedding to ensure the quality of blocks and subsequent steps in the production of slides.
  • Microtomy Skills: Utilize a microtome to section paraffin blocks and consistently produce high-quality slides for routine and special staining procedures.
  • Staining Procedures: Perform routine and special staining procedures, cover slides, appropriately label slides, and review H&E stain quality microscopically.
  • Team Communication: Communicate to maintain team knowledge and demonstrate knowledge of regulatory standards to satisfy compliance requirements.
  • Professional Growth: Participate in professional growth opportunities to enhance personal, team, and department development.
  • Educational Support: Participate in the education of medical students, residents, PA students, School of Medicine students, MLS and Histotechnology students, and technicians.
  • Continuing Education: Maintain personal educational goals and continuing education attendance according to SOP.
  • Specimen Retention: Retain specimens for teaching and research (i.e., unique cases or aberrations) according to SOP, as monitored by supervision.
  • Conference Preparation: Prepare specimens for departmental and interdepartmental conferences as required by physicians according to SOP.
  • Pathology Support: Assist in various duties and responsibilities, including tasks in other Pathology areas.
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