Assessing the degree of corrective and preventive action necessary

Assessing the degree of corrective and preventive action necessary (4.14.1.1) 

The standard requires that any corrective or preventive action taken to eliminate the causes of actual or potential nonconformities is to a degree appropriate to the magnitude of problems and commensurate with the risks encountered. 

The standard does not require you to take corrective action on every nonconformity or prevent every potential nonconformity. Here it is suggested that the decision to act should be based on the magnitude of the problem and the risks encountered. It is therefore implying that you only need act on the vital few. In fact this is good practice anyway, but to find that vital few you need to collect and analyze most of the data in the first place. Having made your proposals you should then conduct a risk analysis as part of the solution. Before managers will take action, they need to know  

Whatever you do, don t act on suspicion, always confirm that a problem exists or that there is a certain chance that a problem will exist if the current trend continues. 

The standard requires the supplier to implement and record changes in the documented procedures resulting from corrective and preventive action. 

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