Do we need to make documentation for Daily Activities of an Engineer?

[zkshazly - 2010]

Dear Sirs;
Hello. Thanks for your help

I has been hired to implement ISO9001:2000 in a vehicle Assembly factory
Today, a discussion occurred between me and another Engineer as following :

Engineer (A) : I have to document each daily activity I’m doing as an Engineer.

My Self (B) : it is not necessary to do this because it is not according to
standard
And you can make training schedule & training records for your self and any
new comer Engineer & if 3rd party auditor asks you can answer that you are
doing your job according to training done by your manager and you will show
him the training records as an evidence. Also you present the job description.

My Question: is my answer correct?

Best Regards;
ZKshazly

 

[Stijloor]

Re: Do we need to make documentation for daily activity of An Engineer?

Dear Sirs;
Hello. Thanks for your help

I has been hired to implement ISO9001:2000 in a vehicle Assembly factory
Today, a discussion occurred between me and another Engineer as following :

Engineer (A) : I have to document each daily activity I’m doing as an Engineer.

My Self (B) : it is not necessary to do this because it is not according to
standard
And you can make training schedule & training records for your self and any
new comer Engineer & if 3rd party auditor asks you can answer that you are
doing your job according to training done by your manager and you will show
him the training records as an evidence. Also you present the job description.

My Question: is my answer correct?

Best Regards;
ZKshazly

Hello ZKshazly

Who imposed the "requirement" of recording daily activities of the Engineer? It is certainly not a requirement in the Standard. But it could be a requirement of your organization to track how engineers spend their time for whatever purpose..... You may want to inquire further.

Stijloor.

 

[SteelMaiden]

Re: Do we need to make documentation for daily activity of An Engineer?

ZK

You are correct that you do not need to document every activity you perform. But, you do need documentation of processes that make up the quality management (or business management) system. So, wherever you participate in a process there should be some sort of documentation of that fact.

Also, if there are processes where you are the sole participant it may benefit your organization to have a fairly detailed description of the process in order to facilitate training should something happen that would keep you from carrying out your duties.

 

[somerqc]

They are correct (as usual around here) that it is not a requirement. However, many companies make it a requirement that the engineering group make a daily log of their activities. This is usually two-fold

1. Some of these activities are eligible for research grants from the government (or are eligible for tax write-offs)
2. To monitor work activities and progress of projects.

In a former life, I used these logs to show many of the requirements of ISO 9001 requirements (re: the engineers would make notes concerning testing that took place of prototype components as well as finished products - in many cases - this documentation covered all aspects except the actual signoff).

In my case, I included these in the system. I would check to see if this is done in your environment and what type of info is in the logs.

John

 

[Jim Wynne]

They are correct (as usual around here) that it is not a requirement. However, many companies make it a requirement that the engineering group make a daily log of their activities. This is usually two-fold

1. Some of these activities are eligible for research grants from the government (or are eligible for tax write-offs)
2. To monitor work activities and progress of projects.

In a former life, I used these logs to show many of the requirements of ISO 9001 requirements (re: the engineers would make notes concerning testing that took place of prototype components as well as finished products - in many cases - this documentation covered all aspects except the actual signoff).

In my case, I included these in the system. I would check to see if this is done in your environment and what type of info is in the logs.

John

I'll add a #3 to the list: Often design engineers are expected to track time spent working on specific projects, as a cost-accounting measure.