Last Updated on October 24, 2023 by Ossian Muscad
Organizations constantly strive to enhance their quality and safety measures. Audit non-conformances, while essential, are not the sole indicators of potential issues or areas for improvement. A comprehensive approach to risk identification considers other vital non-audit findings. When appropriately tracked and managed, these additional findings can be instrumental in fostering a culture of quality and safety. By leveraging digital audit platforms, firms can proactively pinpoint risks and opportunities, going beyond the boundaries of traditional audits. This article will spotlight seven non-audit quality and safety findings elements that organizations should diligently monitor.
What are Non-Audit Quality and Safety Findings?
Before we dive into the specific findings, it’s crucial to understand what we mean by Non-Audit Quality and Safety Findings. The Non-Audit Quality and Safety Findings are elements or indicators related to an organization’s quality and safety that are identified outside the traditional audit process.
They are often discovered through observation, employee feedback, customer complaints, or internal reviews. Just like audit findings, these non-audit findings provide valuable insights into the organization’s operations and potential risks. However, they often offer a broader and more comprehensive perspective as they emerge from diverse sources.
7 Key Findings on Non-Audit Quality and Safety Worth Tracking
It’s crucial to track several key non-audit findings to maximize safety and quality within an organization. These findings provide unique insights into various aspects of the organization’s operations and potential risk areas. Here, we explore seven of these findings:
Safety Observations
Safety observations refer to the day-to-day observations made by employees or safety officers within the organization. These observations can help identify unsafe practices or conditions that could result in accidents if unaddressed. They might include:
- Potential trip hazards in walkways
- Improper storage of hazardous materials
- Noncompliance with personal protective equipment requirements
Incident Reports
Incident reports are a record of any accidents that occur within the organization. These reports are crucial for identifying systemic issues that must be addressed to prevent future incidents. They include:
- Description of the incident
- Details of any injuries or damage caused by the incident
- Causes and contributing factors of the incident
Near-Misses
Near misses are situations where an accident or incident nearly occurred but was avoided. These can be invaluable in identifying potential hazards before they result in accidents. Near-misses might include:
- Equipment malfunctions that could have caused injuries
- Unsafe behaviors that, if repeated, could result in accidents
Operator Recommendations
Operator recommendations are insights and suggestions provided by the employees directly involved in the organization’s operations. They have a direct understanding of the processes and can provide valuable recommendations on areas such as:
- Process improvements
- Equipment upgrades
- Changes in safety procedures
Improvement Opportunities
Improvement opportunities are areas where the organization can enhance its quality and safety. These might be identified through various means, such as customer feedback, employee suggestions, or internal reviews. They include:
- Enhancements in product quality
- Updates to safety protocols
- Improvements in operational efficiency
Customer Complaints
Customer complaints are feedback from customers about the organization’s products or services. They can reveal issues that might not be immediately apparent from internal reviews or audits. Complaints often point to areas such as:
- Product defects
- Service inefficiency
- Noncompliance with customer expectations or standards
Regulatory Compliance Issues
Regulatory compliance issues are situations where the organization isn’t meeting relevant legal or industry standards. These can have significant implications for the organization, potentially resulting in penalties or damage to the organization’s reputation. They encompass:
- Noncompliance with industry-specific safety standards
- Violations of environmental regulations
- Breaches of data privacy laws
Tracking these seven non-audit quality and safety findings elements can provide a more comprehensive view of an organization’s potential risks and opportunities.
Build Your Workflow Using a Low-code Platform
A low-code platform is an efficient solution for organizations seeking to streamline their workflow and enhance operational efficiency. It offers a user-friendly interface and flexible tools that allow the development of business applications with minimal coding.
Simplifying Workflow Design
The adaptability of a low-code platform allows you to design workflows with ease and precision. You can integrate various processes, allocate tasks, and establish a structured pathway to meet your organization’s quality and safety objectives. It enables teams to automate processes, reducing manual work and the risk of errors.
Automating Report Generation
With a low-code platform, generating reports becomes a breeze. You can automate collecting and analyzing data from various non-audit findings. This not only saves time but also ensures the accuracy of the data, as the susceptibility to human error is significantly reduced.
Guided Decision-Making
The platform’s data analytics features can assist in turning raw data into actionable insights. Doing so guides the decision-making process, helping identify potential risks and improvement opportunities.
Enabling Real-Time Monitoring
Real-time monitoring becomes possible with a low-code platform. You can set up dashboards to monitor crucial metrics related to safety and quality. It allows proactive identification of issues, enabling timely interventions.
Low-code platforms can be pivotal in efficiently managing non-audit quality and safety findings. By leveraging their user-friendly and flexible features, organizations can build effective workflows and ensure stringent monitoring of the right metrics.
Streamline Your Audit Process with DATAMYTE
DATAMYTE is a quality management platform with low-code capabilities. Our Digital Clipboard is a low-code workflow automation software with a built-in checklist and smart form builder. This feature and its drag-and-drop interface allow you to create any checklist and form template you need—including ones tailored for non-audit quality and safety findings.
DATAMYTE also lets you conduct layered process audits, a systematic review of critical process steps. This auditing method focuses on the areas with the highest risk of failure or noncompliance. By conducting LPA using DATAMYTE, you can effectively identify and correct defects before they escalate.
With DATAMYTE, you have the perfect solution for tracking and managing non-conformances in audits and other quality and safety findings. Its low-code capabilities make it easy to customize workflows, automate report generation, and monitor key metrics. Book a demo today to learn more.
Conclusion
Tracking non-audit quality and safety findings elements alongside regular audit non-conformances is crucial for any organization. Through this comprehensive approach, potential risks can be proactively identified and mitigated. Thus, it fosters a quality, safety, and continuous improvement culture.
