Purpose

The purpose of this procedure is to define the controls that are required to ensure that non-conforming products are identified and controlled. The controls, responsibility and authorities for dealing with non-conforming products are defined within the procedure.

Scope

The non-fulfilment of a specified requirement and actions taken to prevent re occurrence of the same problem

Understood By

All office based personnel, Management & Internal Auditor

  1. GENERAL

    1. The reason it is necessary to record and investigate non-conformities and complaints is to take action where appropriate, to prevent re-occurrence of the same problem and to use the data to monitor and measure improvements to the business or enhance customer satisfaction.

  2. IDENTIFICATION

    1. Non-conformances identified during site audits must be recorded onto a Site Audit Report form, recording the reason and person(s) responsible. It is the responsibility of the Managing Director to ensure that this procedure be maintained.

2.2 This applies to non-conformances against specified customer requirements,

Relevant British or International standards and any legislation/regulation.

  1. DOCUMENTATION

3.1 Site non-conformances must be recorded onto a Site Audit Report form. It is the responsibility of the Managing Director to ensure this procedure is maintained. Venue Audits similarly are recorded on Venue Audit Report form.

  1. EVALUATION

    1. It is the responsibility of the Managing Director to investigate the cause of the non-conformance. The results of the investigation shall be recorded onto the non-conformance register If the cause cannot be determined, record ‘Not Known’.

    2. Where corrective action can be implemented, ensure the details of the actions are recorded onto the Non-conformance register, It is the responsibility of the person processing the problem to ensure that this procedure is maintained.

  2. REVIEWING NON-CONFORMANCE REPORTS

5.1 Non-conformance records will be reviewed at each Management review meeting of the Quality Management System, the result of the review shall be recorded in the minutes. The Managing Director is responsible for ensuring that this procedure is maintained.

  1. DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF NON-CONFORMANCIES & COMPLAINTS

    1. Non-conformances and customer complaints shall be investigated to determine the root cause. Once the cause has been established, the details must be recorded onto the Non-conformance register It is the responsibility of the person dealing with the problem to ensure this procedure is maintained.

  2. CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS

    1. Check if the customers has specified in the contract the procedure for processing complaints, where this is specified, ensure this procedure is followed. In the circumstance where it is not specified, follow the actions described below.

    2. Upon notification of a customer complaint, ensure the details are recorded onto a Non-conformance Register and onto a customer complaint report The person processing the complaint is responsible for ensuring that this procedure is consistently maintained.

    3. In the circumstances where the root cause of the complaint cannot be determined, record ‘Not Known’ in the appropriate column on the form.

    4. Record the details of the Customer complaint onto a Complaint report, ensure the complaint is closed down to the complete satisfaction of the customer within a maximum of 72 hours. Ensure that the customer receives a copy of the completed Complaint record.

  3. EVALUATING THE NEEDS FOR CORRECTIVE ACTION

    1. The person dealing with the problem shall evaluate the need for taking actions to ensure that non-conformities or complaints do not re-occur. After carrying out the evaluation, the results shall be recorded onto the appropriate documents.

9. IMPLEMENTING CORRECTIVE ACTION

9.1 It is the responsibility of the person processing the non-conformance or complaint to determine what corrective action (if any) is to be taken to eliminate the cause of the non-conformance or complaint; this action shall be recorded onto either a Complaint report or Non-conformance register

  1. RECORDING THE RESULTS OF CORRECTIVE ACTION

10.1 The result of any corrective action shall be recorded onto the appropriate document. Where effective corrective action cannot be taken or it is the individuals’ views that it is not necessary to implement corrective action, record ‘No Action Required’ on form number

10.2 Where the result of the customer satisfaction survey does not achieve the specified quality objective(s), corrective action must be implemented in order to improve the customer satisfaction levels. Record any action onto the Non-conformance register.

11. VERIFICATION OF CORRECTIVE ACTION

11.1 It is the responsibility of the Managing Director to verify any corrective action has been implemented and is effective, recording the results onto either the Site Audit report or the Non-conformance Register

11.2 When verifying corrective action ensure this is clearly recorded onto either the Site Audit report or Non-conformance register. It is unacceptable just to record ‘Problem Solved’, you must record how the corrective action was verified making reference to any person and/or documentation to support the verification.

11.3 Ensure that Non-conformances and Customer complaints are analysed and the data used to measure and monitor improvements to the business and service to clients.