Incident, nonconformity and corrective action
Plain-language summary
Reporting, investigating and properly fixing incidents and nonconformities by tackling the root cause, not just the symptom.
What the clause is really asking
How you respond to an incident or a near-miss reveals the health of your whole system. The clause requires you to react to incidents and nonconformities, control and correct them, investigate to find the root cause with worker involvement, determine whether similar risks exist elsewhere, and take corrective action to stop recurrence, then check it worked. Near-misses count too. The intent is genuine learning that prevents the next injury, not blame and a quick patch.
What auditors look for
Auditors pick recent incidents and near-misses and follow the trail from report to investigation to corrective action to verification, checking the root cause was actually found rather than stopping at human error. They look at whether workers were involved in investigation and whether the fix was checked elsewhere for the same risk. Recurring incidents are a strong signal that root causes are being missed.
Typical evidence
Incident and near-miss reports; investigation records identifying root cause; worker involvement in investigations; corrective actions with owners and verification of effectiveness; trend analysis; evidence similar risks were checked elsewhere.
How to comply — recommendations
Make it easy and safe to report incidents and near-misses, then investigate to find the real root cause, involving the workers who were there. Avoid stopping at blaming the person, since that almost never prevents recurrence. Take corrective action, apply it everywhere the same risk exists, and later verify it actually worked. Watch for repeat incidents, which mean your root cause analysis is too shallow.
Common nonconformities
Near-misses not reported because of blame culture; investigations stopping at human error instead of root cause; corrective actions that treat the symptom and let the incident recur; effectiveness of corrective action never verified; the same risk left unaddressed in similar areas; workers excluded from investigations.
Related clauses
ISO 9001 10.2; ISO 14001 10.2
Qlause provides interpretive guidance only and is not a substitute for the standard. Refer to your licensed copy of the relevant standard for the authoritative text.