This nonconformity and corrective action procedure can assist your business comply with AS/NZS ISO 45001, Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems clause 10.2, Incident, Nonconformity and Corrective Action.
The procedure can be applied to all nonconforming products, services, processes and factors associated with an incident and any aspect of a OH&S management system.
In general terms:
A nonconformity means there has been a deviation from a requirement. A corrective action is a specific action that needs to be taken to eliminate the root cause of that nonconformity or other undesirable situation that could potentially occur. Nonconformities can occur in any process, product, or service and when they do occur, they should be corrected as soon as possible to prevent them from happening again.
When a nonconformity is identified, it is important to take quick and effective action to maintain compliance with requirements. Here are a few key steps to effectively manage a nonconformity.
When a nonconformity is identified, it is important to take quick action to isolate the nonconformity. This means identifying the affected product, service or area and putting it under control so that the nonconformity does not continue or spread. This may involve stopping production, removing finished products from the affected area, or taking other measures to prevent the nonconformity from spreading.
Conducting a root cause analysis of a nonconformity is critical to ensure that corrective and preventive actions are effective in preventing recurrence. To do this, we need to ask why the nonconformity occurred. This may be done using the ‘Five Whys’ method.
Once corrective and/or preventative actions have been agreed upon, action plans should be developed (including the details of who is responsible) for applying the corrective or preventative actions and the appropriate timing for completion of such actions. Allowances should be made for tracking the status of action items until such action is completed.
Note: The records of actions, including the assignment of responsibility and appropriate timeframes should be maintained for a nonconformity. This will allow the tracking of the action status until corrected, closed out and verified as effective, inclusive of improving the competence of affected workers and/or their health and safety.
A means of review and close-out should be followed to assess the status of action items. The review should be recorded against the action item for verification purposes.
A conformity report of all action items that remain outstanding after planned completion dates should be presented for discussion at management review meetings. These reports should be retained as ‘documented information.’ The report should also be signed and dated by the person who was responsible for addressing the issue.
Note: During an internal or external audit of your occupational health and safety management systems, or even a customer complaint may highlight a nonconformity that requires the organization to control and correct the issue. After implementing the corrective action, it is crucial to review the effectiveness of the response and monitor subsequent actions to ensure continual improvement.
This 9-page nonconformity and corrective action procedure can assist to establish the process for identifying, documenting and analysing non-conformities and mitigating their impacts by applying the appropriate corrective action to eliminate or minimize risks.
The procedure can be applied to all nonconforming products, services, processes, factors associated with an incident and any aspect of a OH&S management system inclusive of:
This procedure can assist your business comply with AS/NZS ISO 45001, Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems clause 10.2 nonconformity and corrective action.
