We are a small company with about 10 people in the office. as the Quality Manager I do everything to do with Quality. My question is can I write the Quality documents and Authorise them.
At the moment I write the procedure and then get the production manager to review it then as per our document control procedure, he signs off that it is correct. Then I sign off on that it is authorised. The date I authorise it becomes the issue date
Also do documents need to have the Authors name on them
The only concern I would have is whether the documents are understandable and usable by the actual personnel who have to deal with them. A situation I encounter frequently in my consulting practice is documents written by college graduates in excellent grammar and spelling, but completely incomprehensible to the guy who actually has to follow the process or procedure laid down in the document. Sometimes pictures and cartoons are necessary to convey the intent.
I usually suggest a "reality check" with those who have to use the document BEFORE final approval and publication/distribution of the document.
(Those of you who have ever struggled through assembly instructions for a kid's toy at midnight on Christmas Eve will have a small idea of what some employees go through when trying to follow a process written by someone who has never actually tried to do it in a production setting.)
As far as author signature, in an operation as small as yours where YOU are the only author, why bother except for ego purposes?
Additional comment: Do you have a process to evaluate the effectiveness of the documents you create to assure the necessary personnel do understand and follow them? (It's probably best to do this soon after issuing the document instead of waiting until the regularly scheduled internal audit.) I say this because some employees will tell a boss anything they think he wants to hear when
asked if the document is understandable. (What guy in his right mind tells the boss he writes like an idiot?) The proof of effectiveness is in how the document is followed in use.