Documentation
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Any organization or any other company, which decided to implement an quality management system should have a process of maintaining documentation. According to A. Hamrol main objectives of the documentation process is primarily to have written (documented) evidence of the development and introduction of a system, it is also one of the main sources that provide the necessary information about the entire system and its components.
Documentation is also a written acknowledgment of responsibility distributed between all stakeholders involved in the implementation and maintenance of quality management system. Documentation is also a record of specific actions and activities performed within the system.
Functions
The basic function of proper documentation include:
- Awareness-raising function - which shows all behavior within the organization
- Basic function, independent of the document - a reliable proof of the planning and execution of all tasks
- Communication function - an essential tool for communicating inside and outside the organization. Effectively communicates the collected information. (A. Hamrol 2005, p. 141)
According to W. Sokołowicz and A. Srzednicki quality management system documentation should also provide:
- Practicality and usefulness in achieving the planned objectives
- Integrity of the system, i.e. the coherence between the individual elements of the process
- Clarity - which primarily concerns the division of duties, assigned responsibilities and powers, but also relates to a clear course of decision-making points (W. Sokołowicz, A. Srzednicki 2006, p. 92.
Principles
Proper system documentation should refer directly to the actual, existing external and internal regulations, which include all kinds of international standards, national, sectoral and internal rules, top management ordinance. Development of the Quality Management System documentation should be initiated only after you follow these steps:
- Appropriate training to managers and all employees in the field of quality
- QM Supervisor's appointment
- An analysis of the system functioning in the organization
- Identification of all the processes in the organization and all the links between them
- Presentation of the principles of the preparation, implementation and documentation management system. (W. Sokołowicz, A. Srzednicki 2006, p. 90)
Requirements
ISO 9001 requires that the full documentation of the system was fully supervised. To this end, a priority task for the organization is to establish procedures, which will be presented to the conduct of activities relating to:
- Approval of documents before their official release and the presentation of the organization
- Conduct a systematic and fair review of the documents
- Confirmation that all changes have been identified
- Confirmation that the current documents are available in places they should be used
- Ensure that all documents are properly legible and easily identified
- Ensuring that external documents are identified and properly supervised
(W. Sokołowicz, A. Srzednicki 2006, p. 95)
The most common structure of the documentation process in the organization is a hierarchical structure. It is the most reliable form of conduct documentation. It takes into account the variety of documentation and the fact that different types of records are created at all stages and levels of the structure (A. Hamrol 2005, p. 141)
References
- Piskar, F., & Dolinsek, S. (2006). Implementation of the ISO 9001: from QMS to business model. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 106(9), 1333-1343.
Author: Magdalena Slobodzian
