Non conformity, do nothing? Employee experiencing "hard times"

[RoxaneB]

If it's a one time problem, correction and move on. It's not a systemic problem. If it happens more frequently then human proof it.

Similar to Golfman...

I've talked before about establishing triggers for helping an organization determine when to take a correction versus corrective action. Is your organization's system so rigid that corrective action is always required? Defining types of failures AND the failure outcomes (example : Nonconformances on Product Line A < $xxx = Correction) can help reduce the human determination of correction versus corrective action, it also takes out the human emotional contributing factor towards the nonconforming effect.

 

[Mikey324]

In the real world, people are going to have real world problems from time to time. I'm sure everyone understands that. Employees have lives after work, and sometimes bad things happen that can have an impact on the way they perform. As for a full blown corrective action, that doesn't sound necessary.
The way i read it, the employee let you know, after the fact, that life had gotten in his way. Maybe a step forward would be to "open the door" and make sure employees are comfortable letting you know that they are struggling in advance? Not that all would let you know anyway, as some people want their home life to stay private, but it might help.

 

[Watchcat]

I don't know how a system managed by people could be Perfect.

It can't. That's why it's call "continuous quality improvement," because no system is perfect and can always be improved.

 

[Watchcat]

I would not say root cause is never the employee

I would say never, as a matter of definition.

Is your employee a system operator? If they operate the system, then their failure cannot be a system failure. But if the system fails, there is a system failure somewhere, and it's not in the operator, because the operator is not part of the system.

Or is your employee part of the system? If so, when they fail, that's a system failure. Their identity as an employee is separate from their identify as a part of the system.

 

[Michael_M]

The root cause is never in the employee, it always in the system. If an employee can cause a non-conformity, your system has a hole in it. Per Ninja, that doesn't mean you have to plug it.

I would say never, as a matter of definition.

We had an employee making alterations to CNC programs that created a lot of scrap (NC). We had a corrective action removing the ability to change CNC programs. It happened again (in violation of written procedures), so we 'locked' the ability to edit programs at the machine. The employee then by-passed the lock and edited the program again. Most of this was mostly discovered during the verification stages of the NC. The employee was fired as this was absolutely the employee's fault for willfully violating written procedures.

I agree that 95% of corrective actions are to the system that allowed it to happen, but there are times when the employee is absolutely at fault and the cause of the problem.

 

[Ninja]

I've had an employee intentionally ship the wrong product (copper instead of gold). He went to prison.

"The root cause is never the employee" is a valuable place to start...but it's a dangerous thing to hold on to for too long...especially when the root cause is most certainly the employee.

 

[qualprod]

I would say never, as a matter of definition.

Is your employee a system operator? If they operate the system, then their failure cannot be a system failure. But if the system fails, there is a system failure somewhere, and it's not in the operator, because the operator is not part of the system.

Or is your employee part of the system? If so, when they fail, that's a system failure. Their identity as an employee is separate from their identify as a part of the system.

Thanks watcatch
But in a System where people, procedures, machines are part of the system.
How can people be separated?
I think all the elements are working into the system.on the other hand, when this cause is something which can t be totally eliminated, if root cause is not the people, then what can be? Sickness, stress?
Thanks

 

[Watchcat]

then by-passed the lock.

Sounds like one of those former criminals/hackers who end up getting hired to test system vulnerabilities. Of course, that sort of thing mostly happens in the movies.

 

[Watchcat]

qualprod, if a machine malfunctions due to stress and wear, do you say the root cause is the machine, or that it is the stress and wear? Do you repair it or replace it?

 

[Jim Wynne]

The root cause is never in the employee, it always in the system. If an employee can cause a non-conformity, your system has a hole in it. Per Ninja, that doesn't mean you have to plug it.

If you've found a way to completely eliminate human error affecting process output, please share it with us.