Corrective Action Plans & Preventive Actions
Section 3.10 of the OH&S Regulation states:
…”Whenever a person observes what appears to be an unsafe or harmful condition or act the person must report it as soon as possible to a supervisor or to the employer, and the person receiving the report must investigate the reported unsafe condition or act and must ensure that any necessary corrective action is taken without delay”…
What are corrective actions?
Corrective actions are a step-by-step set of documented actions designed to identify issues and gaps in a system, process or procedure and identify the root cause to prevent recurrence.
There are two types of corrective actions:
1. Interim corrective actions:
During the period between an incident and the conclusion of the full investigation, an employer is responsible for taking all actions reasonably necessary to prevent the incident from happening again. If you can identify only some of the unsafe conditions, acts, or procedures that significantly contributed to the incident, interim corrective actions may include a full or partial shutdown of the worksite, removal of equipment, or reassignment of workers to other duties.
2. Final corrective actions:
Once a full investigation has been completed, a manager must document the unsafe conditions that led to the incident, what corrective action is necessary, and the steps taken to implement those actions.
CASE STUDY EXAMPLE: A worker uses a tool; the tool is broken unbeknownst to the worker, and the worker cuts their finger because of the faulty tool. Listed below are the considerations and steps:
Correction “Damage control” Fixes the CURRENT set of issues. Action to eliminate a detected nonconformity.
Correction Action A piece of masking tape is added to the tool with the word “damaged” on it and put in the supervisor’s office. Actions to eliminate the cause of a detected nonconformity. Taking corrective action prevents it from happening again by looking at the causes. Once the tool was observed as damaged. It should have been tagged out and put away to be fixed or discarded.
Action to eliminate the cause of potential nonconformity. Prevent the same or similar incident from potentially happening again.
Preventative Action Procedure for damaged or broken tools was reviewed, and a new tagging process for damaged tools was added. The department labelled a shelving area where all defective tools must be stored.
How to develop meaningful Corrective & Preventive Actions
Step 1) Define the problem, and ask the questions, who, what, when where and why. Clearly outline the expected outcome, often called a “should be” statement. Comparable statements might be:” The operator counted 9 boxes, and the operator should have counted 10 boxes.”
Step 2) Establish the Scope of the Problem, and understand the severity. Look at the frequency of an act or job, what is the highest risk, and how could it affect operations. A small risk assessment.
Step 3) Take Containment Actions. Finding the root cause of an incident can take time. Using preliminary action to contain/fix surface-level issues is important for acute control over the situation. That surface-level solution is only the beginning and isn’t often the root cause of the incident.
Step 4) Find the root cause of the problem. Finding the underlying issue or issues is the trickiest part of the process. Sometimes it feels like you found it but there haven’t been enough questions asked. On the “Blue Form” there are statements to help you dig deeper into the cause. A method often used is also the 5 Whys. Keep asking whys until there are no more whys to ask. For more information on the 5 Whys Incident Investigation method scan the QR code below.
Step 5) Plan corrective actions to fix the root cause. Create solutions with allotted feasible deadlines that are centered around the root cause, and detail the steps to eliminate the underlying cause of the problem. Include who is responsible, how they should report their progress and an estimated completion date.
Step 6) Implement the plan. CAPA (corrective and preventative actions) may be as simple as replacing a faulty piece of equipment or updating old software. The CAPA can also involve complex processes like implementing new engineering controls, hiring personnel, or re-training.
Step 7) Follow up to ensure that your plan worked, document the corrective action process and conclusion. Occasionally the plan implemented isn’t right and the team might need to return to the drawing board to discuss a better strategy.
