Sign-off

[sunnyjeff]

One of my operators failed to sign-off on the route card and he is on vacation. I'm the manager. Can I sign-off on the route card if I know that the work was done? He will be away for over a week.

 

[Randy]

What's your procedure say?

What's contingency if someone wins the lottery or gets killed? Same thing. If you don't have one that's where you're wrong, so make one up.

 

[Kronos147]

Can the work be verified by you?

If the WO says "install the widget," is the widget installed?

 

[sunnyjeff]

Can the work be verified by you?

If the WO says "install the widget," is the widget installed?

Yes, it was a 'wash' operation. I saw him doing the work and there is no oil left of the parts. We just did our AS9100 audit and everyone is gun shy.

 

[Golfman25]

I would think as a matter of course a supervisor can sign if he can verify the work.

 

[Jen Kirley]

Welcome to the Cove!

Accepting work is an official act, so I agree you should make plans for verification contingency signoff, and document those plans as I expect AS9100 wants.

 

[Randy]

Want to really complicate the process? Determine and have the evidence of competency for whoever signs stuff off.

 

[sunnyjeff]

We use a skills matrix to see if everyone is properly trained on their jobs. Complicated? Yes! I don't know if we work for the company or for the AS9100 accreditation company.

 

[Randy]

We use a skills matrix to see if everyone is properly trained on their jobs. Complicated?

Here's a potential and I'm surprised it hasn't been picked up on by your CB or maybe there's a communication breakdown here.......... Training is not the same as competence, and I'll use myself as an example.

I've an MBA (Finance heavy) and on paper I look like a whiz-bang financial expert, near 4.0 and all that dribble....It took us 5 years of payments to the IRS because of errors I made on taxes one year........Guess what I don't do now even though I'm "trained"? My lovely bride handles all out family finances, checking, everything and has so for 43 years because I'm a dud at it.

When you designate someone to perform a task, what evidence do you have that shows understanding and successful/effective performance of the subject matter of that task? Would you designate an HR person to sign off on a production task because of title or position rather that someone who has the needed background?

Competence = demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and/or experience (you've gotta be able to show this)

 

[Jen Kirley]

Randy makes a good point.

It is possible to use a matrix to keep track of everyone having achieved the required level of competency; just be ready to review how that competency is determined. Is it the same for everyone in that job? If yes, you can make a table to describe it but there might be a different supervisor who did things like oversee OJT, the certified trainer for triennial forklift certifications, etc. Why is this? That trainer needs to be competent too, and if there is some problem and the training process becomes (or should become) part of the problem solving.

Important note: some types of regulated training require an official record. Consult your various legal & other requirements for what type of record is needed.