Understanding the difference between corrective actions and preventive actions is essential for any professional working with management systems. They are crucial not only to maintain the system’s health but also to enhance company performance and ensure compliance.
These types of actions are present in all companies and across all management system standards. They are useful and necessary for quality management (QMS), environmental management (EMS), and occupational health and safety management (OHSMS), among others. In fact, both types of actions often occur simultaneously within companies, operating in different processes, activities, or situations.
Essentially, the difference between a corrective action and a preventive action lies in when they are executed and the purpose each serves within the context of the management system. Preventive actions are implemented before a problem occurs to avoid its occurrence, while corrective actions are taken after a problem has happened to address and resolve it. Let’s explore each one in more detail.
Understanding Corrective Actions
Corrective actions, as the name implies, are used to fix problems that have already occurred in processes. They are most commonly applied to address nonconformities, aiming to eliminate the root cause of an issue so that it does not recur in the future. Typically, a corrective action process includes the following steps:
- Recording or collecting information about the nonconformity;
- Conducting a detailed analysis of the root causes of the occurrence;
- Developing an action plan that targets and eliminates the causes (which may involve one or more corrective actions);
- Evaluating the effectiveness of the corrective actions.
In some cases, a monitoring period may be added after the corrective actions.
Example of a Corrective Action
Imagine that a batch of products was delivered with a defect in the product color tone. After a thorough analysis, it was discovered that the problem occurred due to a machine calibration failure—the machine was using incorrect amounts of pigment because it wasn’t calibrated.
The corrective action, therefore, would be to calibrate the machine to determine how far it is from the standard and then make the necessary adjustments. Additionally, to prevent this failure from happening again, a control mechanism with periodic calibrations should be implemented, ensuring the machine consistently meets the standard.
Understanding Preventive Actions
While corrective actions occur after a problem has taken place, preventive actions focus on anticipating and mitigating potential risks. Their goal is to identify and eliminate possible root causes of nonconformities (and other issues) before they occur. This is the primary distinction between corrective and preventive actions.
Implementing preventive actions requires a prior mapping of processes and an exercise in predicting what might go wrong and lead to nonconformities. Although preventive actions also involve cause analysis and the creation of action plans, they place a strong emphasis on establishing risk monitoring mechanisms and may include developing contingency plans.
Example of a Preventive Action
Consider the previous example of a machine that causes errors in the final product’s color tone. Imagine that, before any defective batch is produced, the company anticipates that the machine may experience wear and, consequently, inconsistencies in color dosage.
In response, before a problem affects the final product, the company reviews historical data and identifies a risk of calibration errors. To prevent this issue, the company sets up a preventive maintenance plan and establishes an appropriate calibration frequency to ensure compliance. In some cases, the company might even opt to replace the equipment with a more durable model or change the painting method to one that is more consistent and secure.
All these actions are considered preventive because they aim to mitigate or eliminate the risk of the final product being produced with the wrong color due to a machine issue.
Read about: Nonconformity Management – Steps and How to Do It
Preventive Actions in ISO 9001:2015
It is worth noting that the concept of preventive action is no longer formally described in the 2015 version of ISO 9001; however, it remains present as it has been integrated into risk management.
With this new understanding, instead of treating preventive actions in isolation, companies now consider risk and opportunity analysis to avoid problems before they arise. This approach ensures greater proactivity and guarantees that risks are managed and addressed in a more solid, structured, and assertive manner.
The Importance of Corrective and Preventive Actions
Often, when discussing the difference between corrective and preventive actions, professionals tend to emphasize one over the other. However, it is important to understand that both are equally useful and important for companies and management systems.
No matter how efficient a company may be, the rapid changes in our environment will always give rise to nonconformities and various issues. Corrective actions are fundamental for learning from and quickly adapting to these issues, preventing their recurrence.
Conversely, the know-how we have acquired, our market experience, and information collected from our clients enable us to anticipate and avoid nonconformities and losses. This makes preventive actions essential for ensuring not only more cost-effective and efficient deliveries but also a high degree of excellence.
A good management system—whether for quality, environmental, health and safety, or another area—is one that effectively employs both types of actions: avoiding problems whenever possible and correcting them when necessary.
Thus, success is measured by having a proactive company that acts preventively while also being agile in crisis management and problem resolution. It is vital to correctly understand the difference between corrective and preventive actions and to create systems ready to act on both.
