Request: Quick list of Required ISO9k2k RECORD

[Bob_M]

I'm just looking for a quick list of ISO9k2k REQUIRED records.

I'm updating our matrix of record retention and I don't want to miss any that NEED to be included.

I figure someone has an electronic copy of ISO9k2k (or memorized) and can give me a quick list of the REQUIRED records.
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How do most companies determine they retention time for their quality related records? (Other than customer requirements)

 

[ISO Cheesy]

I'm just looking for a quick list of ISO9k2k REQUIRED records.

I'm updating our matrix of record retention and I don't want to miss any that NEED to be included.

I figure someone has an electronic copy of ISO9k2k (or memorized) and can give me a quick list of the REQUIRED records.
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How do most companies determine they retention time for their quality related records? (Other than customer requirements)

Here you go Bob, As far as the rentention time? Being AS our customers make the call, but in my last life w/ ISO upper magt. just pulled a # out of the sky...(no joke) 3 to 5 years. Don't know where thay got that #.

 

[Joe Cruse]

Bob, on retention time, what are you doing now, and does it meet your quality needs? If you are satisfied with what you do now, keep doing it. If you still need to hold the records after the specified time (financial, legal data for example) you can. It's your stuff. But you have to take away the "Quality Record" designation from the material that is beyond the time limit.

As an example, I still have furnace production chemistries from 30 years ago. Our retention time as a quality record is 3 years. Once that time is up, it is an "archival" document. I do the same with our ancient wet chemistry methods, because we are not throwing this stuff away over the "Q" word, and we don't have to.

All this was from advice given to us by our current registrar auditor, who has been very good to work with. He also warned us at our last 1994 audit to watch using "indefinite" for record retention.

Joe

 

[Bob_M]

Bob, on retention time, what are you doing now, and does it meet your quality needs? If you are satisfied with what you do now, keep doing it. If you still need to hold the records after the specified time (financial, legal data for example) you can. It's your stuff. But you have to take away the "Quality Record" designation from the material that is beyond the time limit.

As an example, I still have furnace production chemistries from 30 years ago. Our retention time as a quality record is 3 years. Once that time is up, it is an "archival" document. I do the same with our ancient wet chemistry methods, because we are not throwing this stuff away over the "Q" word, and we don't have to.

All this was from advice given to us by our current registrar auditor, who has been very good to work with. He also warned us at our last 1994 audit to watch using "indefinite" for record retention.

Joe

Well I did not create our retention times, and I do not know the logic behind some of them.

Most of the "quality" times are 1, 2 or 3 years. But unless I have the Time to clear them out, they are basically kept indefinitely.

WE don't really need a process for "destorying" records, we just need a list of how long to keep them.

Its not a major concern, but I need/want to update the procedure and retention matrix before our Pre-Assessment.

 

[RoxaneB]

Think outside the box..

We orginally based our record retention times on legal concerns, starting off with keeping records for due diligence reasons, etc. When 14K came into play, legal requirements became a concern again. How long must we keep records to cover our :ca: ?

Believe it or not, our floor personnel did not like us just keeping records based on the legal requirements. They felt we, as an active employer in the community, had a responsibility to maintain records for as long as feasibly possible.

The scenario they gave was that some records could be destroyed after 7 years. What if there is a discovery that we might be a major contributor to pollution in the water table after the records are destroyed? There is no objective evidence to clear our name OR to find us guilty. Our employees want that proof so that we can acknoledge our role and take the steps necessary to address/solve the situation.

As record retention is a component of our Business Management System (not just 9K or 14K), the policy to cover all retained records is that the indicated time frame for active and archived records is a minimum only. Records will be maintained for X years as a minimum before being dispositioned as indicated.

 

[Mike S.]

But you have to take away the "Quality Record" designation from the material that is beyond the time limit.
Joe

In my Q record retention time matrix I simply list the minimum time the record must be kept, no maximum time, no multiple categories of record and archive, etc. That way we don't get dinged if we don't stop and throw away any "old" docs that are past their retention time and we also don't get dinged if an "old" record (past the minimum retention time) is missing, lost, hard to find, or destroyed and we don't have an auditor asking us to retrieve old docs from a dusty old storage area even though we may want to keep them around unofficially "just in case".