Is the Quality Policy Statement a controlled document?

[hazel]

directive documents

Quick Question....
If I want to distribute a copy of the QP STMT around the laboratory to be posted to familiarize the employees with the Quality System; should I document it as an SOP or can I distribute it without any formal header and footer?

 

[Jerry Eldred]

Not being a documentation expert, I can give my best layman's answer.

Any controlled document you make copies of needs to somehow be covered so there is no possible confusion as to knowing you have the correct revision. Some of the methods I have seen are to include in your document control policy a provision for how you distribute uncontrolled copies. Another method would be to make them controlled copies (unique identifier of some sort on each copy, and a way to track them).

Yet another method would be to make one copy and send it around with a place for each employee to initial it after he/she has read it, and return it. Then you can properly disposition it.

Bottom line being that you need a way to make sure that if for example you revise the language in what is distributed to those employees, then you preclude the possibility that a copy of an obsolete document is erroneously floating around later on.

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