Please help my division with quality [long]

L

lostsc

Preface: I am not a quality professional; I am not a Document Control professional although that is in my title; the person in charge of Quality in my division is not a quality professional.

Per the global QESH policy the certifications are ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001

I don't know if this is pertinent information but I'm including it so I don't have to ETA later. Company is worldwide with several different companies under it. My division is Field Service, although our offices are at a location with different machine shops from other divisions. I am basically a catchall office person and my duties include receiving project paperwork from the field, data entry into the ERP system for field hours and cost, collecting timesheets and sending to HR for payroll, organizing reports for customer projects, and making forms for our division only.

The division superintendent was tasked by the quality dept to construct a quality plan, to supply our customers because we (field service division) operate so differently than the other divisions, which I assume acceptably fall under the corporate global QESH?

The plan consists of step by step specific detailed instruction from start to finish of a project, with links and descriptions of forms that may or may not be used depending on the specific needs of the project. These are examples of the forms referenced in the plan: several pre job checklists (between project manager, dispatch, supervisor, customer, sales, etc.), time sheet, safety, expense reports, post job reports, personnel evaluations...the list goes on:nopity:
Would it be correct to say that a quality plan should be a bunch of procedures all lumped into a document?

Would an auditor require us to retrieve each and every one of these forms listed for any given project regardless of applicability? Have we missed the mark on what was being asked of us?

The problem lies in that I receive paperwork from the field, and create the hanging folders into which, this paperwork lives. I feel like this is a recipe for disaster, and I'd like to :ca: by gaining knowledge and making suggestions if we are on the wrong track. I've spent 3 days browsing through this forum and the myriad of information; I have learned, but I've also found myself more confused than when I started. So Please if anyone can brainstorm with me, I would be forever indebted!
 

Mark Meer

Trusted Information Resource
I come from the medical field (ISO 13485), so I can't speak directly to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, but there are certainly some underlying universal quality principles/approaches. Here are some suggestions:

First: Define a scope for the quality system, and associated requirements (e.g. ISO 9001)

Would an auditor require us to retrieve each and every one of these forms listed for any given project regardless of applicability?

Anything outside of the scope (e.g. you mention timesheets, expense reports, job postings - these are usually outside typical systems' scope), is not going to be audited by an ISO auditor.

Second: Define processes to meet these requirements. What are the inputs & outputs? How do they interact with each other?

Third: Define data (typically part of process outputs) used to monitor processes, and criteria (objectives) to evaluate the effectiveness/health of each process.

Now: proceed to implement the defined processes, collect the data, and continually monitor/evaluate the processes against your objectives. The solution(s) you adopt to do this are entirely up to you!

Would it be correct to say that a quality plan should be a bunch of procedures all lumped into a document?

Unless strictly required by the system (e.g. vis-a-vis ISO requirements), you are free to manage and document things in whatever way works best for you.

A quality plan need only be as detailed as suits the project, and is necessary to provide value to your operations. It may be as simple as a flowchart outlining the order of events and interactions of processes and resources.

In general, I'd advise against lumping procedures together. I'd suggest ensuring that there is a coherent/controlled system of document IDs, so that procedures can be kept independent. Other documents, such as a quality plan, can simply reference applicable procedures/documents by their control IDs.

The problem lies in that I receive paperwork from the field, and create the hanging folders into which, this paperwork lives. I feel like this is a recipe for disaster..

I'd strongly suggest adopting an electronic system for document management early on (i.e. ASAP). Especially if, as you say, you are dealing with a distributed network of organizational divisions. There are a lot of tools available, depending on your requirements...

Hope this helps somewhat...
Good luck!
MM.
 
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