Revised: 12 June 2012 (SAI Global auditor observations)
Corrective action is required in the event of a non-conformance to standards being found in methods, materials, suppliers, the management system, or the product (our service). Corrective Action Requests may be generated by auditors or personnel, and shall always be generated on receipt of a customer complaint, safety complaint or environmental complaint.The CAR system is also used to record auditor observations, in addition to non-conformances.
CAR's shall be maintained in the register below (shaded rows are completed):
| Date | Details of Corrective Action Request | Raised by | Response to CAR | Closure date | Signature |
| 13/1/00 | Calibration schedule for lab instuments not always being followed | PC |
Calibration not done during the 'quiet' periods. Schedule altered to include less frequent scheduled calibrations and an 'daily before use' requirement when in use. | 15/1/00 | PC |
| 24/3/2005 | Calibration checks frequently indicate recalibration required | PC |
Monthly check replaced with monthly recalibration. | 24/2/05 | PC |
| 23/7/2004 | Auditor suggested observations to be recorded in CAR system | Phil Read (PR) |
Agreed | 20/8/2004 | FC |
| 23/7/2004 | Auditor suggested obsolete versions of manual should be archived for reference | PR |
Document control procedure altered | 24/3/2005 | PC |
| 23/7/2004 | Auditor noted that electronic quotes occasionally result in verbal go-ahead that may not be recorded | PR |
All verbal go-aheads to be confirmed by fax or email as specified in the management manual | 24/3/2005 | PC |
| 19/7/2005 | Auditor observed that the EIP and Chemical Hygiene plan should be reveiwed once the new laboratoy is operating | Trish Hodgson (TH) |
This was done in September as part of a Panel application for DTEI and again in April 2006 after the lab had been operating for nearly a year. | 13 April 2006 | PC |
| 19/7/2005 | Auditor observed that the backup of CDROM's could benefit from being logged as per the method of project files | TH |
Peri obtained an indexed CDROM box and the backup CDROM's for each project are now filed in the same order as the project files and the box is stored in the laboratory (a separate building to the office). | 30/10/2005 | PC |
| 19/7/2005 | Auditor observed that there are multiple backups of the server and noted that one should be stored in the new laboratory once it is established | TH |
The backup system has been simplified - all documents and items to be backed up are stored on the same hard drive on the server.This drive is copied monthly to an external USB hard drive in the office. A second copy is made to another external USB hard drive in the laboratory (a separate building). This is separate to the CDROM backups of each project file and the copies of all printed reports that are maintained in the library | 10 March 2006 | PC |
| 19/7/2005 | Auditor noted that the business is developing methods for determining why some tenders are unsuccessful, along with collecting information on costing of tenders | TH |
Faith has collected details from Tenders SA looking at the prices quoted by sucessful tenderers for jobs we may have been interested in. Our spreadsheets for costing metro and regional flora surveys are used regularly. Only one tender was unsuccessfull this year and the reason provided was that we may be 'too academic' for a community group to understand. Recent work for that client has corrected that misapprehension. | 1 Jan 2006 | PC |
| 19/7/2005 | Auditor noted there was scope for surveying customers at the end of each project to determine their level of satisfaction | TH |
The idea has been discussed extensively. The draft review process we use should allow clients to provide feedback before the end of the project, ensuring they are satified with the deliverables, and we feel this provides a better outcome for the client than doing a questionaire-type paper survey after the project is finalised. We are approaching Peartree Marketing to discuss the institution of an occasional telephone exit survey. | 12 March 2010 | PC |
| 1/9/2006 | Auditor suggested that the tender & proposal documentation could include a reveiw status table in a similar manner to the report documentation so that there would be evidence of our tender/proposal review process | Nigel Pattenden (NP) |
The tender/proposals templates have been altered to include a document review table to formally record our usual in-house review process. | 1/9/2006 | PC |
| 1/9/2006 | The auditor noted the presence of a backup in a separate building, but asked us to consider whether it may be practicable to maintain a copy entirely off the site | NP |
After assessing the risks, it has been decided that maintaining backups in separate buildings covers the majority of risks likey to occur (fire, burglary, flooding). Larger events such as earthquakes are widespread in nature, reducing the effectiveness of off-site bacjkups in those cases. The backup drives are small and portable so that they may be removed from the site if a sitewide evacuation is required. | 17/7/2007 | PC |
| 1/9/2006 | The auditor wondered whether a formal procedure to isolate 'root causes' of any customer complaints that may eventuate was required. | NP |
To encourage us to examine the causes of any system failures more closely the CAR form will now include a section entitled "Addressing the root cause" that should help to focus the response on deeper issues. |
1/9/2006 | PC |
| 1/9/2006 | While the Outlook and the invoices showed that the AND analystical balance had been serviced and calibrated by SER, the certificate was missing | NP |
SER were contacted and they sent us a copy of the certificate, which is now filed in the laboratory certificates folder. Addressing the root cause: The certificates for masses and scales have been separated to ensure they are not disposed prematurely. |
1/9/2006 | PC |
| 17/7/2007 | The auditor suggested that we consider implementing a formal performance management system | TH |
A proforma has been developed for annual performance reviews |
12/3/2010 | PC |
| 17/7/2007 | The auditor observed that a 'test'n'tag' system should apply to small portable appliances and power boards. | TH |
As the equipment is used lightly, a triannual test'n'tag routine was selected rather than a more frequent regime. Equipment is tested by a competent person using a hired PAT meter. Addressing the root cause: No personnel were trained (October 2007) to use a portable appliance tester, so testing was not conducted. Once personnel (RE and MB) were trained, test tags were purchased, but both staff left the business before testing was conducted. A contract arrangement was used instead |
initial steps 22/10/07 and 15/8/2008 reopened and completed 21/3/2010 |
RE, MB, PC MC |
| 14/8/2008 | The auditor noted that the waste audit and seed collecting scales were a few weeks overdue for calibration and suggested that if they were infrequently used items that they be made "calibrate prior to use" | Michael Ryan (MR) |
Done |
8 Aug 2009 | PC |
| 14/8/2008 | The auditor recommended that the Field Notebooks be managed in the Registry, along with the Lab Notebooks and Reports | MR |
A new section has been made in the Registry to record the Field Notebooks. Addressing the root cause: When changing types of record keeping, it is important to determine how the new records will be managed. An additional line has been added to the Document Control procedure to address this. |
15/8/2008 | PC |
| 14/9/2009 | The SAI Global auditor recommended that the Management Review Diary include a line for recording the number of updated and new procedures raised each year as a result of the management review and ongoing oversight of the system | MR |
A new section has been made in the Management Review Diary to record the results of all internal audits and reviews Addressing the root cause: A reminder has been included in the Outlook task reminders to undertake an audit or review of a section of the Quality System annually |
15/3/2010 | PC |
| 28/06/2010 | The SAI Global auditor recommended that all proposal templates be checked and reference to NATA be updated | MR |
All proposal tenders have been updated Addressing the root cause: not applicable |
22/10/2010 | PC |
| 20/06/2011 | The SAI Global auditor recommended that the annual retraining on the Workzone Traffic Management CDROM needs to be undertaken | MR |
This was conducted in August and the five year refresher course was attended in January 2012 Addressing the root cause: This was a time management/prioritisation issue |
30 Aug 2011 and 31 March 2012 | PC |
| 12/06/2012 | The SAI Global auditor recommended that all proposal templates be checked and reference to NATA be updated | MR |
While all proposal templates have been updated, occasionally a recent proposal was used as the basis of a very similar, or repeat proposal. All such proposals have now been corrected. Addressing the root cause: While it is best to always start a proposal from scratch it is recognised that occasionally repeat business will make the reuse of an older proposal attractive. The proposals where this is a likely occurrence have been identified and recent proposals have been corrected. |
13/06/2012 | PC |
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