Sustainable Agriculture Institute

SAI-QMS-MP-001

Control of Documents

Distribution List

Change History

PROCEDURE FOR CONTROL OF DOCUMENTS

 Table of Contents

1. PURPOSE
2. SCOPE
3. REFERENCES
4. ABBREVIATIONS / DEFINITIONS
5. PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITY
6. METHOD
7. APPENDICES

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1.0 PURPOSE

The purpose of this procedure is to ensure control over the creation, approval, distribution, usage, and updates of documents (also called: documented information) used in the QMS (Quality Management System).

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2.0 SCOPE

This procedure is applied to all documents and records related to the QMS, regardless of whether the documents were created inside SAI or whether they are of external origin. This procedure encompasses all documents stored in any possible form – paper, audio, video, etc.

Users of this document are all employees of SAI inside the scope of the QMS.

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3.0 REFERENCES

3.1 ISO 9001:2008 – Quality Management Systems Requirements

3.2 SAI Quality Manual

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4.0 ABBREVIATIONS / DEFINITIONS

4.1 QMS documents

Any information and its supporting media identified to detail activities of the Institute’s QMS contained in the document master list.

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5.0 PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITY

The Management Representative is responsible for the conformity adequacy, promotion of awareness, and overall implementation of this procedure.

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6.0 METHOD

6.1 Document Creation

6.1.1 Document Identification and Inclusion

Any document shall be identified and included in the QMS after due consideration by parties affected and approval by the Head of the function.

6.1.2 Document Classification

Quality documents shall be classified according to the following categories. They shall be approved by the designated Head.

6.2 Document Approval

6.2.1 Approval by Signature

Any document shall be approved by the Head of the function by signature.

6.2.2 Document Classification Categories

All documents at SAI shall be classified according to the following categories.

6.2.3 Designated Approvals

All documents shall be approved by the designated Head / Section, Academic – DVC (Academic & Students Affairs), Finance and Administration – DVC (Finance & Administration), and Corporate – Vice-Chancellor.

6.2.4 Designated Functions Approvals

All work instructions at designated functions shall be signed by the Head of the function.

6.3 Document Identification

6.3.1 Document Identification

All documents shall be identified by way of title, folio, file, codes, date, department, and a designated document number assigned by the relevant Head of function according to the registry.

6.3.2 Document Identification Control Template

To ensure all necessary information required for document identification and control is captured on a standard template.

6.4 Document Change

6.4.1  Document Change Control

Any change required on the QMS documents shall be done in a controlled manner to ensure that all affected schools, colleges, and departments have the same procedures.

6.4.2   Change Authority Authority

All changes identified shall be suggested and forwarded to the approving authority of the affected procedure. The change request shall indicate the reason for the proposed change.

6.4.3  MR Implementation

The approving authority shall make recommendations and forward the same to the MR for implementation.

6.4.4 MR Change Assurance

The MR will ensure that changes are made to all issued documents and that they are pre-approved before re‐issue, any obsolete documents shall be withdrawn.

6.5 Documents of External Origin

6.5.1 Statutory and Regulatory Requirements Assurance

To ensure that the Institute’s operations are within the expected statutory and regulatory requirements, codes of conduct, or agreements, the Director QA shall ensure that the latest version of all external documents affecting the Institute’s operations are maintained and copies availed and communicated to the affected parties.

6.5.2  Director QA Responsibilities

The Director QA shall be responsible for the update of any revised external document and the withdrawal of any previously issued obsolete external documents, to ensure that such are not referred to or used within the system.

6.6 Document Storage and legibility

6.6.1 QMS Document Storage Protection

To protect the QMS documents from damage, all QMS documents shall be carefully filed and stored appropriately in areas that prevent document deterioration.

6.6.2 Document Legibility

Documents shall be printed on clean paper and shall be legible without strain. Any authorized handwritten change shall be very clear and countersigned by the responsible authority.

6.6.3 Document Availability

The authorized copyholder will ensure proper storage and availability of the document to other users. The MR will be responsible for the storage of all master documents and documents to be availed for external use.

6.7 Document revision

6.7.1 Document History

Documents may be revised from time as may be appropriate with conformity. All changes shall be entered in the document history or records of change. Typographical errors will be documented as a corrigendum.

6.7.2 Re-issue and New Revision Status

Where changes affect more than one-quarter of a page in totality or when a major change occurs in the operations, the document will be reissued with a new revision status.

6.8 Document Circulation

6.8.1 Document Distribution

All documents shall be distributed to the identified copyholders of each document.

6.8.2 Document Circulation

The Identified copyholder may further circulate photocopies of the document to the necessary personnel within his/her area of jurisdiction.

6.8.3 Document Holder Control

The control of such documents shall be the responsibility of the authorized copyholder.

6.8.4 Document Distribution Records

The authorized copyholder shall maintain a record of all distributed documents and ensuring the withdrawal of any obsolete copies.

6.9 Records Availability

6.9.1 Permissions to access Records

Employees of the Institute may access stored records only after obtaining permission from the person designated as the person responsible for storing individual records. If the sensitivity of certain records is such that permission for access must be obtained from a different person, this must be stated in the concerned internal document in the chapter describing records control.

6.9.2  Access and Retrieval

Access and retrieval rights for records are determined by the owner of individual records.

6.9.3 Record Back-ups

If the records are stored on a computer they must be backed up at least every 24 hours.

6.9.4 Retention and Disposal of Records

MR is responsible for destroying all records of which the retention time has expired.

6.10 Obsolete Documents

6.10.1

The MR shall be responsible for the update of any revised external document and the withdrawal of any previously issued obsolete external documents, to ensure that such are not referred to or used within the system and to apply suitable identification to the documents if they are retained for any other purpose.

6.10.2

The Management Representative (MR) shall be responsible for the update of any revised internal documents and the withdrawal of any previously issued obsolete internal documents, to ensure that such are not referred to or used within the system and to apply suitable identification to the documents if they are retained for any other purpose.

6.11 Managing Records kept on basis of this document

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7.0 APPENDICES

Appendix 1 – List of Internal Documents

List of Internal Documents

_________________________

[signature]

[name]

[job title]

Appendix 2 – List of External Documents

List of External Documents

_________________________

[signature]

[name]

[job title]