Corrective actions

A corrective action links to a nonconformance and names an owner. It holds the root cause, action, due date, completion date and status. When an action plan is submitted, the correction workflow verifies that the nonconformance link and root cause are present before approving the plan. That decision gives the Quality Manager a place to reject an incomplete explanation before work proceeds.

For a rejected final inspection, Corrective Action Owner might identify the cause in the investigation and describe the action that will prevent a repeat. Quality Manager opens the linked nonconformance and original inspection evidence, checks the cause, and approves the plan. The owner implements the action and records completion. Later effectiveness review asks whether the action worked against the issue recorded at the start.

• Cause and action. The plan keeps the explanation beside the proposed correction.
• Owner and due date. A named person and date make follow-up visible in a daily queue.
• Review state. Planned, Approved, Implementing, effectiveness review and Closed separate proposal from completion.

The action’s parent case remains the source of the initial detection and severity. An action marked complete should still be read against that case and the inspection evidence. This preserves a clear distinction between finishing a task and deciding it was effective.

Choose who can submit action plans and who approves them. Decide what a useful root cause statement contains and when the due date is set. Agree which evidence shows implementation and who reviews effectiveness. Quality Manager should use the same standard when closing a small issue and a critical one, while allowing the evidence to fit the case.

The due list uses a date comparison, so the team should decide how it handles actions that remain visible after completion. Agree what the owner records at each state change so the next reviewer can understand the work without relying on a meeting note.

Create an action linked to a contained nonconformance. Submit one plan without a root cause and confirm it cannot pass the approval check. Complete the cause and have Quality Manager review the parent case before approving. Assign a due date, record implementation, and move the action to effectiveness review. Ask a different team member to explain why the action can or cannot close using only the record and related inspection. This rehearsal reveals vague causes and missing evidence early.

• Due for effectiveness review — Implemented actions awaiting a human effectiveness decision.
• Overdue corrective actions — Owner and due date alongside the current action state.

See rejection to correction and inspection and disposition.