A preventive action is a change implemented to address a weakness in a management system that is not yet responsible for causing nonconforming product or service. Candidates for preventive action generally result from suggestions from customers or participants in the process but preventive action is a proactive process to identify opportunities for improvement rather than a simple reaction to identified problems or complaints. Apart from the review of the operational procedures, the preventive action might involve analysis of data, including trend and risk analyses and proficiency-testing results. The focus for preventive actions is to avoid creating nonconformances, but also commonly includes improvements in efficiency. Preventive actions can address technical requirements related to the product or service supplied or to the internal management system. Many organizations require that when opportunities to improve are identified or if preventive action is required, action plans are developed, implemented and monitored to reduce the likelihood of nonconformities and to take advantage of the opportunities for improvement. Additionally, a thorough preventive action process will include the application of controls to ensure that the preventive actions are effective. In some settings, corrective action is used as an encompassing term that includes remedial actions, corrective actions and preventive actions.
Risk and decision making Preventive actions rely upon on the consequences of change. Once changed, inevitably, risks should be taken into consideration. In this case preventive actions aim to minimize or, where possible, eliminate the risks. Risks arise when little is known and understood about a particular situation. The chances of risk are minimized whilst one has better knowledge of the opportunities and consequences that could follow a situation. In order to reduce risk, a full analysis of potential best and worst results is required. Before taking into consideration any plan, people should be aware of the consequences of both success and failure. Not only the internal aspects - capability, expertise and willingness of staff- but also the external aspects of an organisation - stakeholders, customers, clients - should be assessed. Strategic risk management works with defining an organisation's approach to risk in terms of condition, attitudes and expertise. It identifies the possible areas of risk and assures that the proper approach is used. Then operational risk management will insure that steps for minimizing or eliminating the risk are followed. A strategic approach of the risk management includes studying the environment and being aware of the issues that must be considered in any situation. Risks can occur due to a range of unexpected possible and potential events outside of the organisation's control, such as: political instability, change in currency, changes of the weather which could lead to a change in customer behavior, etc. Therefore, in an organisation it is important to know and understand what events could take place, where and why. So, managers should prioritize some steps of preventive actions in order to anticipate these kind of issues, especially focusing more on:
Patterns of behavior Accidents Single events and errors "Patterns of behavior" relates to the morale and motivation of people. The effects of human behavior (such as victimization, bullying, harassment and discrimination) could affect confidence, weakening the relationships meant to lead to performance. Accidents could happen anytime and anywhere. Thus, an organisation has to assure that the accidents are kept to a minimal level. In this situation preventive actions should focus more on the nature and quality of the working environment, safety aspects and technology. Single events and errors are very hard to be managed and impossible to be eliminated. The risk should be kept at a minimum through supervision systems, regular inspections and procedures. In order to perform a change, an organisation has to do a forecast, deeply understanding where that event could lead and its consequences. Thus, the risk of a particular event and its probability of occurring should be clear. Using this information, one can understand and better make future decisions, proposal and initiatives.
Examples in management Preventive actions differ from one organisation to another. Their number is vast, among them counting:
Assessing business trends Monitoring processes Notifications regarding any situation Perform risk analysis Assessing new technology Regular training and checking Recovery planning Safety and security policies Audit analysis
Technology safety and security Nowadays, due to fast changes in engineering, there is a large emphasis in the enhancement of safety and security regarding technology. However, in order to avoid some issues, more powerful safety analysis techniques are constantly being developed. As safety and security issues can occur anytime, intentionally or not, more preventive strategies against loss or hacking are enhanced. These actions aim to focus on the possible causes of the problem, rather than solving an already critical situation.
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