Control of quality records: Can there possibly be a more boring requirement? You can feel the yawn coming on as you read through the requirements of ISO 9001 subclause 4.2.4.

Not only are you required to keep records, you’re required to have a documented procedure that describes how you maintain them. How do you convince a manager that this isn’t the ultimate pencil-pushing exercise? How do you demonstrate that it’s an effective process?

Last month’s column dealt with monitoring and analyzing appropriate metrics. You can’t know how your organization is doing if you don’t assess the outcome of processes. It therefore stands to reason that you can’t assess the outcome of processes if you don’t have good records.

Other consequences of inconsistent record-keeping practices include:

- Inability to perform thorough and effective internal audits

- Incomplete management reviews

- Inaccurate analysis of trends and performance indicators

- Inconclusive root cause analyses

- Diminished opportunity for improvement

The upside is that good record-retention practices facilitate effective performance of the processes mentioned. They also save time by cutting down on the hours spent trying to track down pertinent information.

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