Jerry's response was - right on the mark. Thanks for the detail, Jerry. I'm pretty shoddy with answers. I would have just answered YES and Yes it is scarry....
Originally posted by Ken K.:
Am I to believe ... an auditor can come into our (a) plant and question if the people doing certain jobs are qualified?
Sounds sort of scary to me.
My thoughts are, YES - It's quite true! You have to be ready to stand your ground!
When I first put this web site up over 4 1/2 years ago, I had learned 1 thing about ISO which was worse with QS. See
Elsmar.com/entry2.html#original - it says:
Do You... Understand the Intent?
Are You... Ready to (Can You) Explain?
The 'game' had begun in ernest. As I have said many times in these forums, I tell my clients to be ready from the beginning to fight.
Again, this was written well over 4 years ago. The experience I was going through was the reason I put this site up back then! This thread, these forums, have evolved from those early pages and the trials at hand.
Some auditors are really good. Some are OK. Some are the devil incarnate. Things haven't changed all that much, either.
I still tell my clients at the first meeting:
You have to Understand every sentence of the document, the Intent of each sentence, and you have to be Ready to Explain how you meet the intent of each sentence! I can't explain for you... And - be ready to fight for your interpretation. You may have to.
As to the specifics of whether they can actually WRITE YOU UP for not having qualified people, you have to be ready to provide documented
qualification requirements for the position (not to be confused with job criteria or job description elements) and be ready to discuss why those requirements are appropriate for the position - in case the auditor wants to push that far (which I have seen done many times, especially in QS audits).
Still scarry???
[This message has been edited by Marc Smith (edited 10 June 2000).]