58: Documentation and Records Issue
Definition/Typical Issues
This major root cause category addresses issues related to most documentation. It includes:
- Equipment records and manuals
- Operational and maintenance history
- Risk assessment records
- Personnel records
- Other documents and records
It does NOT include procedures, standards, or policies.
Does an equipment records program exist for the equipment or component? Is it inadequate or out of date? Does it contain the incorrect information? Does it fail to contain all the information necessary to ensure equipment and process reliability?
Are operational and maintenance records maintained? Are they inaccurate? Are they out of date?
Are risk assessment records maintained? Are they inaccurate? Are they out of date?
Are personnel records maintained? Are they inaccurate? Are they out of date?
Are other records maintained? Are they inaccurate? Are they out of date?
Examples
Example 1
- During the past year, the failure rate for feed pumps has doubled. Maintenance records are inadequate to determine why any of the failures occurred. Work records just say "pump repaired."
Example 2
- A tank overflowed because of faulty liquid level instrumentation. The records indicated that a calibration was called for and performed 3 months prior, but did not indicate how much adjustment was made during calibration. A large adjustment might have indicated pending failure.
Example 3
- A pressure vessel was not properly tested after a modification. The design information for the salvaged vessel had been lost.
Example 4
- During an audit, it was discovered that the training records of personnel were inadequate to determine whether they met all of the qualification requirements for their current position.
Example 5
- Suppliers are qualified by passing a detailed assessment performed by facility personnel. However, records of the assessments were not updated on a timely basis. As a result, it was difficult to determine the current list of qualified suppliers.
Typical Recommendations
- Improve equipment operational and maintenance records to enable the selection of the proper type of maintenance.
- Ensure that design information is retained on equipment and accessible to personnel responsible for operation, maintenance, and modification of the equipment.
- Establish a plan for distributing original equipment manufacturers' manuals to the areas that require the information in order for personnel to plan and execute their work.
- Assess the adequacy of maintenance tasks that collect information on the status of equipment.
- Ensure that information collected on rounds is documented in a manner that allows identification of abnormal conditions.
- Establish access controls for personnel records.
- Establish a process to update documents and records.
- Periodically audit documents and records to identify missing documents.
Cross-References
| Version 10 Element(s) | |
|---|---|
| Node ID | Node Name |
| 18 | Equipment Records |
| RBPS Element(s) |
|---|
| Compliance with Standards |
| Process Knowledge Management |
| Maritime Element(s) | |
|---|---|
| Node ID | Node Name |
| 68 | Equipment Records |