Corrective action

removing the cause to prevent recurrence

A corrective action eliminates the root cause of a nonconformity so that it does not recur or occur elsewhere. ISO 9001 (10.2) expects the organisation to analyse the nonconformity, determine the causes, check whether similar ones exist, implement the action, review its effectiveness and update risks if needed.

Checking effectiveness after some time, with data, is the step most often missing.

Common mistake

Closing the action with “operator retrained”. Retraining is rarely a root cause; look at the instruction, the tool or the control that allowed the error.

Calculate it

CAPA and NCR Tracker: Register of NCRs and CAPAs with aging, overdue items, MRB disposition and effectiveness.

Related terms

• Correction: fixing the detected nonconformity
• Root cause: the cause that, once removed, prevents recurrence
• CAPA: corrective and preventive action