Document Control
Definition
The systematic management of all procedural documents in a quality management system, ensuring that the current approved version is in use, all changes are reviewed and authorised before implementation, and superseded versions are archived with their dates of validity.
- Applies to
- Procedural documents in a QMS
- Ensures
- Current approved version is in use
- Requires
- Reviewed and authorised changes
- Archiving rule
- Superseded versions kept with validity dates
Common questions
Why do accreditation standards like ISO 17025 require formal document control?+
Without it, staff can unknowingly follow an outdated procedure, which undermines the traceability an accredited lab must demonstrate. Auditors specifically check that every document in use carries a current version number and an approval record.
What happens to a superseded procedure under document control?+
It is withdrawn from active use but archived, not destroyed, along with the date range it was valid for, so the lab can show which version governed the work on any past case if that work is later reviewed or challenged.
Related terms
- ANAB
- The American National Standards Institute National Accreditation Board, formed after the merger of ASCLD-LAB with ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board in 2016. Now...
- ASCLD-LAB Legacy Programme
- The American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Laboratory Accreditation Board's original forensic-specific accreditation programme, which ran alongside and was eventually superseded by...
- Blind Proficiency Test
- A proficiency exercise in which the test materials enter the laboratory as apparent casework and the examiner does not know they are...
- CTS (Collaborative Testing Services)
- A Herndon, Virginia-based proficiency testing provider offering fire debris analysis and explosives proficiency schemes. CTS distributes evidence-can samples containing burned substrate with...
- Forensic Science Regulator Act 2021
- UK legislation that gave the Forensic Science Regulator statutory power to require compliance with quality standards, investigate non-compliant providers, and publish compliance...
- Information Security Policy
- A high-level governance document that states what the organisation intends to achieve in protecting information, assigns accountability to roles, and sets the...
- ISO/IEC 17025
- The international standard for testing and calibration laboratories, published jointly by the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission. It...
- NABL T-126
- Technical Requirement T-126 issued by India's National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories: the discipline-specific criteria for forensic science laboratories, covering...
- Open Proficiency Test
- A proficiency exercise in which the examiner knows they are being tested. Measures the laboratory's capability under conditions of heightened attention but...
- Operating Effectiveness
- The assessment of whether a control has consistently functioned as designed over the audit period. Requires evidence of actual operation, such as...
- Policy Exception
- A formal, time-bounded approval to deviate from a policy or standard requirement when the standard control is not achievable. Exceptions must be...
- Procedure
- A step-by-step operational instruction that tells a specific role how to carry out a task in conformance with the relevant standard. Procedures...
Explained in these topics
- Information Security Policy HierarchyThe process of managing the lifecycle of governance documents: version numbering, approval recording, distribution, access control, and scheduled review. Audit...
- Quality Systems: ISO 17025, NABL, ASCLD-LAB and Proficiency Testing