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Importance and Utility of Quality Documentation

The following is an excerpt from The Complete Guide to the CQA by Steve Baysinger, © Quality Publishing.
The Complete Guide to the CQA may be ordered from the Quality Publishing Order Form.

APPROPRIATE, ADEQUATE, ACCURATE AND CURRENT

The word "documentation" encompasses both records and documents. Records are recorded information, regardless of the medium or characteristics, made or received by an organization that is useful in the operation of the organization. (Association of Records Managers and Administrators Glossary, 1989) They are also any information captured in reproducible form that is required for conducting business. (Penn et al., 1994) Documents, on the other hand, is a term that denotes an organization’s written or graphical procedures, policies or instructions. Documents explain what an organization plans to do and how it will be accomplished as well as instruct employees how to perform tasks. Unlike records, documents exist before the fact; they provide guidelines, explanations and instructions about how to operate. Records contain information about the activity and, thus, do not exist until after the activity has been performed. Documents include quality manuals, raw materials specifications and procedures on such topics as internal quality audits, marketing, quality control, hazardous waste handling, document control, etc. (Brumm, 1995)

The benefits to the auditee of properly maintaining organizational records and documents should be obvious. First, properly maintained documentation provides employees with the official "company way" of performing their tasks as related to ensuring product quality. Next, documentation can be very useful in simplifying complex (and, thereby, error-prone) processes. Documentation can be used to supplement employee training. It provides a basis for comparing what is required to what is actually done. Documentation, in other words, can be audited to verify compliance. It is an excellent source of objective evidence for the auditor. Documentation also provides a method of evaluating the quality system per-formance of suppliers and sub-tier suppliers to ensure the best provider of quality material and products is selected. (Haney, 1994)