Do you control your forms within your ISO 14001 environmental management system? If you do - great, if not - consider it! One of the divisive topics with interpretation of ISO 14001:2004 and other standards is control of forms. Various organizations treat forms differently than other EMS documents and do not control them.
ISO 14001:2004, element 4.4.5, instructs an organization to control documents required by the EMS and the standard. While some companies often try to justify not controlled forms, let's find out if forms are the same as "documents" and if they also should be controlled.
Very often, companies use form templates for tests, master lists and other purposes. Frequently, it is not necessary to write a typical, instruction with all distinctive components, such as the purpose, scope, references, etc., if a simple table can assist us in achieving the same objective. Very often companies get non-conformities from their registrars during certification audits because their forms are not controlled.
When questioning the validity of a not controlled form, I often hear: "This is just a form." It always escapes me, for what reason should a form be different than any other document! How would we know if we need a form if it is not referenced in our EMS documentation structure? After all, if you are not managing forms by assigning document or part title or No. and decide to revise them, how can you be certain that you use the latest revision? At best it would be difficult. In practice it would be impossible. Well, precisely what is a form? A quick quiz will help answer this question. What would you call a list of directions telling us to:
1 - prepare 2-column table
2 - enter your company name into the first column
3 - put your business's URL into the 2-nd column
Hardly anybody will argue that this three-line writing is in fact an instruction to make and complete this form. So if this is an instruction, it "shall" be controlled, right? The standard said so.
Now, let's imagine that we were given a two-column form, only being asked to complete it. The first column title was "You company name" and the second column "Company's Website". Needless to say that following this procedure we would enter our company name and our Website address in the table. It means that we interpreted the table as an "instruction".
If we agree that our first three-line instruction in English was a "real" instruction, or a document that needs to be controlled, the second, blank form, resulting in the same output, must also be an instruction and then shall also be controlled!
It appears that the puzzlement about forms and their control originates from the fact that forms serve 2 functions. Not completed forms are instructions in tabular language. After a form is filled out, it becomes a record. Records, as we know, do not have a document number, or a revision level. Records are controlled by different processes. Remember this and treat your forms as instructions controlled by your document control procedure. Actually, there is a simple test you may take when you are thinking about not controlling a form.
- Let's say that somebody changed your favorite form. Would you want to know why?
- If you revised one of your ISO 14001 forms, would you like your users use the latest revision?
- If you were absent, (a journey to Russia, let's say) would you like folks to find your form just by looking at a reference to it in your ISO 14001 environmental management system?
If you answered, "yes" at least once, your form is a definite candidate for being a part of your formal ISO 14001 documentation management system. - 15246
ISO 14001:2004, element 4.4.5, instructs an organization to control documents required by the EMS and the standard. While some companies often try to justify not controlled forms, let's find out if forms are the same as "documents" and if they also should be controlled.
Very often, companies use form templates for tests, master lists and other purposes. Frequently, it is not necessary to write a typical, instruction with all distinctive components, such as the purpose, scope, references, etc., if a simple table can assist us in achieving the same objective. Very often companies get non-conformities from their registrars during certification audits because their forms are not controlled.
When questioning the validity of a not controlled form, I often hear: "This is just a form." It always escapes me, for what reason should a form be different than any other document! How would we know if we need a form if it is not referenced in our EMS documentation structure? After all, if you are not managing forms by assigning document or part title or No. and decide to revise them, how can you be certain that you use the latest revision? At best it would be difficult. In practice it would be impossible. Well, precisely what is a form? A quick quiz will help answer this question. What would you call a list of directions telling us to:
1 - prepare 2-column table
2 - enter your company name into the first column
3 - put your business's URL into the 2-nd column
Hardly anybody will argue that this three-line writing is in fact an instruction to make and complete this form. So if this is an instruction, it "shall" be controlled, right? The standard said so.
Now, let's imagine that we were given a two-column form, only being asked to complete it. The first column title was "You company name" and the second column "Company's Website". Needless to say that following this procedure we would enter our company name and our Website address in the table. It means that we interpreted the table as an "instruction".
If we agree that our first three-line instruction in English was a "real" instruction, or a document that needs to be controlled, the second, blank form, resulting in the same output, must also be an instruction and then shall also be controlled!
It appears that the puzzlement about forms and their control originates from the fact that forms serve 2 functions. Not completed forms are instructions in tabular language. After a form is filled out, it becomes a record. Records, as we know, do not have a document number, or a revision level. Records are controlled by different processes. Remember this and treat your forms as instructions controlled by your document control procedure. Actually, there is a simple test you may take when you are thinking about not controlling a form.
- Let's say that somebody changed your favorite form. Would you want to know why?
- If you revised one of your ISO 14001 forms, would you like your users use the latest revision?
- If you were absent, (a journey to Russia, let's say) would you like folks to find your form just by looking at a reference to it in your ISO 14001 environmental management system?
If you answered, "yes" at least once, your form is a definite candidate for being a part of your formal ISO 14001 documentation management system. - 15246
About the Author:
Mark Kaganov published dozens of articles in the areas of ISO management systems. To optimize your ISO 14001 management system, check out environmental consulting program. Quality Works consultants can save you time on developing or optimizing your ISO 14001 EMS.
