Audits and Documents

Audits carry an audit number, scope, planned date, completion date, state and assigned auditor. Findings belong to an audit and have a requirement, finding text, severity, due date, closure date and owner. The relationship lets a quality manager move from the audit schedule into the detail of what was found and who is responsible for follow-up.

Controlled Documents hold a title, version, effective date, attachment and status. Training Acknowledgments connect a controlled document to a person and record when that person acknowledged it. Together they help the team locate the document version used in a quality review and see the corresponding acknowledgment entries.

• Plan the audit. Auditor records the scope and planned date, then uses Audit Schedule to follow work in planned, in-progress or reporting states.
• Track findings. Auditor records the requirement and finding, selects severity, gives it an owner and due date, and records closure when resolved.
• Maintain documents. Document Control updates document versions and status, then records acknowledgments against the corresponding document.

Audit findings and corrective actions are separate records. An audit finding has an owner and due date; a corrective action belongs to a nonconformance. If an audit issue needs the corrective action path, the quality manager should open and manage that case under the agreed operating procedure rather than assume the audit record changes automatically.

Agree an audit numbering convention and how the scope text identifies the area reviewed. Decide who can record a finding and who confirms its closure date. Make sure owners know how due findings appear in Audit Findings by Due Date, including closed findings whose due dates have passed.

For documents, agree who approves a version, how the effective date is chosen and when an old version becomes obsolete. Document Control should identify which people need to acknowledge each change. The acknowledgment record gives a date and person, so the procedure should say when an acknowledgment counts for the current version.

Plan an audit of an inspection work area, assign the auditor and set the date. During reporting, record a major finding against a named requirement, give it an owner and due date, and open Audit Findings by Due Date. The owner should be able to identify the finding and the audit it came from. When the finding is resolved, record the closure date and review the audit’s completion state.

Then prepare a revised controlled document. Document Control records the new version, attachment and effective date, moves it through review and approval, and captures an acknowledgment for a person who uses it. Open Training Acknowledgments and verify that the document and person references lead back to the expected records.

• Audit Schedule — Planned and active audits with dates, scope and auditor.
• Audit Findings by Due Date — Findings dated through today, including closed work, with owner, severity and parent audit.
• Controlled Document Review — Document versions currently awaiting review.

Use audit and document control for a rehearsal of audit, finding and acknowledgment records.