Hello Everyone,
I am new here and a bit intimidated by the depth of knowledge many of you bring to this forum. Please forgive me if this is not the appropriate category to post in; I’ve tried to familiarize myself with the forum but may have overlooked the proper section.
I have worked in Quality Control for almost a decade, primarily in a single role at a shop building power plants and bridges. My experience includes participating in several AISC audits, where I’ve been responsible for answering questions and ensuring compliance with company policies on document control and calibration.
Now I work for a company that handles a mixture of things and keeps Structural Jobs segregated.
Recently, I was presented with an incredible opportunity to step up, but it comes with significant challenges. Our QA manager left, along with part of the PM and Sales team, leaving me feeling overwhelmed. To get a handle on the situation, I began by reviewing our QMS and conducting an internal audit.
This is where the problems began to surface. In 2023, our company received a Corrective Action Report (CAR) related to contract review. The issue stemmed from PMs failing to fulfill their responsibilities, with the previous QA manager covering the gaps by completing forms retroactively. This practice feels inappropriate to me, so I’m working to establish a proper document chain and implement corrective measures.
I’m concerned about how the auditors will address this long-standing issue. Will they take into account that I’ve inherited this problem, or am I likely to face scrutiny regardless?
The original CAR attributed the issue to a lack of training, but I’ve discovered that the root cause was more nuanced. The QA manager was effectively bypassing the process to make up for gaps. I’ve since written several new reports and involved executive management in addressing the situation.
Has anyone here dealt with a similar scenario where they inherited an issue that had been trending for a while?
Additionally, I’m trying to create a comprehensive checklist to prepare for the upcoming audit. While I’ve found some online resources and used LLM tools for assistance, I’m looking for real-world insight. If anyone has experience with audits and wouldn’t mind sharing their process or checklist, I’d greatly appreciate it. I understand every shop and QMS is unique, but having examples to work from would be invaluable.
Lastly, if there are any less-obvious areas of preparation or advice you can offer that might fall outside standard audit readiness, I would be incredibly grateful. Although I’ve participated in audits before, this is my first time acting as the company’s primary point of contact, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous.
There is also some disagreement among members of upper management on when we HAVE to classify something as structural. My argument was anything answering yes to section 2.1 "Definition of Structural Steel" would require a structural designator (for internal process) and require AISC compliance. There are members of the senior PM staff trying to convince me that the Structural Components of a Duct Job would not require AISC compliance from our shop.
What are the delineating factors internally? Verbiage of Contract Scope? We often hand very small portions of much larger projects but are managing ever larger chunks and sub contracting services. I am really worried as we start to scale that no one but me is really worried about overall compliance.
Thank you so much for your time and any advice you can share.
Sincerely,
New_2_QA
I am new here and a bit intimidated by the depth of knowledge many of you bring to this forum. Please forgive me if this is not the appropriate category to post in; I’ve tried to familiarize myself with the forum but may have overlooked the proper section.
I have worked in Quality Control for almost a decade, primarily in a single role at a shop building power plants and bridges. My experience includes participating in several AISC audits, where I’ve been responsible for answering questions and ensuring compliance with company policies on document control and calibration.
Now I work for a company that handles a mixture of things and keeps Structural Jobs segregated.
Recently, I was presented with an incredible opportunity to step up, but it comes with significant challenges. Our QA manager left, along with part of the PM and Sales team, leaving me feeling overwhelmed. To get a handle on the situation, I began by reviewing our QMS and conducting an internal audit.
This is where the problems began to surface. In 2023, our company received a Corrective Action Report (CAR) related to contract review. The issue stemmed from PMs failing to fulfill their responsibilities, with the previous QA manager covering the gaps by completing forms retroactively. This practice feels inappropriate to me, so I’m working to establish a proper document chain and implement corrective measures.
I’m concerned about how the auditors will address this long-standing issue. Will they take into account that I’ve inherited this problem, or am I likely to face scrutiny regardless?
The original CAR attributed the issue to a lack of training, but I’ve discovered that the root cause was more nuanced. The QA manager was effectively bypassing the process to make up for gaps. I’ve since written several new reports and involved executive management in addressing the situation.
Has anyone here dealt with a similar scenario where they inherited an issue that had been trending for a while?
Additionally, I’m trying to create a comprehensive checklist to prepare for the upcoming audit. While I’ve found some online resources and used LLM tools for assistance, I’m looking for real-world insight. If anyone has experience with audits and wouldn’t mind sharing their process or checklist, I’d greatly appreciate it. I understand every shop and QMS is unique, but having examples to work from would be invaluable.
Lastly, if there are any less-obvious areas of preparation or advice you can offer that might fall outside standard audit readiness, I would be incredibly grateful. Although I’ve participated in audits before, this is my first time acting as the company’s primary point of contact, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous.
There is also some disagreement among members of upper management on when we HAVE to classify something as structural. My argument was anything answering yes to section 2.1 "Definition of Structural Steel" would require a structural designator (for internal process) and require AISC compliance. There are members of the senior PM staff trying to convince me that the Structural Components of a Duct Job would not require AISC compliance from our shop.
What are the delineating factors internally? Verbiage of Contract Scope? We often hand very small portions of much larger projects but are managing ever larger chunks and sub contracting services. I am really worried as we start to scale that no one but me is really worried about overall compliance.
Thank you so much for your time and any advice you can share.
Sincerely,
New_2_QA
