Documents and training

Document Controller records a title and version for each controlled document. The record can carry an attachment and effective date. Its status distinguishes Draft, Review, Approved and Obsolete. This makes a review decision visible to the team that uses the instruction. The title alone is insufficient when a requirement changes between revisions; the version and effective date identify which instruction applies.

A person who acknowledges a document has a separate training acknowledgments record. It links that person to the controlled document and the acknowledgment date. The relationship makes it possible to see who acknowledged a specific revision without rewriting the document record each time another person reads it.

• Revision preparation. Document Controller enters title, version, attachment and intended effective date before sending the revision to Review.
• Release decision. The controller verifies title and version and approves the revision for use, moving Review to Approved.
• Acknowledgment record. Each person links an acknowledgment to the released document with the date it occurred.

Agree how titles are named, how versions advance and who is allowed to approve a revision. Define when an Approved revision becomes effective, including the use of its effective date. Decide who marks an older document Obsolete, and how the team avoids using an old attachment after a new revision is released. These are operating choices that need to be explicit at rollout.

Also agree which people must acknowledge which documents and how the team verifies the acknowledgment was actually made. A person’s name, active state and linked user help identify the right recipient. An acknowledgment should refer to the intended controlled document revision, not just a familiar title. Keep the date meaningful so a reviewer can compare it with the revision’s effective date.

Prepare a revised inspection instruction with the same recognizable title and a new version. Document Controller attaches the revision and sends it to Review. The approver checks title, version and attachment, then marks it Approved with an effective date. Add acknowledgments for the Inspectors expected to use it. Open the Approved revisions view and verify that the version and effective date identify the released instruction.

Ask an Inspector to find the released document before a new inspection. The controller then checks that person’s acknowledgment against the exact revision. If a later revision is approved, the earlier acknowledgment should not be mistaken for acknowledgment of the new one. This case tests the document-to-person relationship that the quality team needs for a real operating cycle.

• Pending release — Revisions in Review with title, version and document attachment.
• Approved revisions — Released instructions with their effective dates.
• My inspections — Assigned work where an Inspector can check the applicable instruction before starting.

Use document release to rehearse revision approval and acknowledgment before the next inspection cycle.