Corrective Action Program Best Practice 7 – Document Reasons for Condition Report Cancellation or Closure

Condition reports requiring no processing past the Identification Phase are either cancelled or closed so to prevent the unnecessary expenditure of the organization’s resources. Reasons for the termination of condition report processing, however, should be well documented so to enable later evaluation of the appropriateness of this action. Furthermore, this documentation enables the initiator feedback necessary to ensure a high level of employee engagement with the corrective action program. (See StrategyDriven Corrective Action Program best practice article, Initiator Feedback)[wcm_restrict plans=”48866, 25542, 25653″]

Reasons for Cancelling or Closing Condition Reports

Several underlying differences exist between the reasons for condition report cancellation and closure. Condition reports are cancelled or rejected for one or more of the following reasons:

• Reported condition does not meet the organization’s reporting criteria
• Investigation determines the condition does not exist

Condition reports are close for one or more of the following reasons:

• Condition requires no additional corrective actions and is coded for tracking and trending only
• Duplicate open condition report or work order already exists

Documenting the Reason(s) for Condition Report Cancellation or Closure

In order to provide both an adequate historical record and initiator feedback, documented reasons for cancelling or closing a condition report should contain the following minimum information:

• Date/Time of the cancellation or closure
• Individual authorizing the cancellation or closure
• Individual documenting the cancellation or closure
• Statement of why the condition report was cancelled or closed including applicable elaborating data:
  • Applicable organizational standard(s) not met
  • Investigatory data supporting the assertion that the reported condition does not exist
  • Corrective actions taken to date and/or information supporting the assertion that no further actions are required
  • Causal codes (See StrategyDriven Corrective Action Program best practice article, Condition Report Causal Codes)
  • Open condition report or work order representing the same issue (See StrategyDriven Corrective Action Program best practice article, Check for Duplicate Condition Reports)

Differences in Treatment between Cancelled and Closed Condition Reports

Condition report treatment is dictated by the underlying reasons for their cancellation or closure. Cancelled or rejected condition reports are:

• Eliminated to prevent the further valueless expenditure of processing resources
• Excluded from historical condition report metrics

Closed condition reports are:

• Archived because no further action is required
• Included in historical counts for condition report metrics

[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”48866, 25542, 25653″]

---

Hi there! Gain access to this article with a StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription or buy access to the article itself.

Subscribe to the StrategyDriven Insights Library Sign-up now for your StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription for as low as $15 / month (paid annually). Subscribe Now! Not sure? Click here to learn more.

Buy the Article Don’t need a subscription? Buy access to Corrective Action Program Best Practice 7 – Document Reasons for Condition Report Cancellation or Closure for just $2! Access the Article Now!

[/wcm_nonmember]

---

About the Author

Nathan Ives is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.