Document Control Procedures

The framework for document approval, update, or amendment, change tracking, publication (internally or externally), and obsolescence is established by document control procedures.

What are document control procedures?

The methods listed in a document control procedures manual are referred to as document control procedures. This comprises:

• creation of documents: The document control procedure determines who creates a document and how it is made. This can include information about the document's formatting, naming, and other technical specifications.
• Review and approval of documents: The document control procedure specifies how documents are evaluated, who approves them, and how approvals and revisions are noted. According to quality assurance principles, papers must be checked for accuracy.
• Editing of documents: Documents that have been finalized and approved frequently nevertheless require modifications in the future. The method for document modifications will be decided by document control processes. The procedures specify who is in charge of initiating, requesting, and carrying out modifications.
• publishing documents: The document control processes specify the conditions under which a document is released, where it is published, and who is permitted to view it after it has been finalized and approved.
• obsoleting of documents: One other significant step in the document control system is the obsoleting of documents, which is the removal of those documents from availability. When documents (or the material they refer to) are replaced, they may become obsolete or their date may become irrelevant.
• Document control techniques' advantages: One of the main advantages of document management methods is that they guarantee that the right, most recent version of the document is being used. One of the most common audit findings in compliance programs is the discovery of documents that are out-of-date or inaccurate.

Who is in charge of the document control processes?

In the majority of organizations, a person or group of people are designated as being in charge of document control procedures. Additionally, you are in charge of the Document Control Procedures Manual (itself following document control procedures).

Using document control methods as solutions

A document management system can assist document control operations through a number of different components. Some of the most popular ones include:

• Revision control involves keeping track of each change that is made.
• Audit logging involves keeping track of all file-related activities.
• Security is the process of determining who can access a file and what operations they can carry out.
• Workflow: sending documents digitally for evaluation and approval

Want to learn more about this topicfrom experts in the field? Check our Document Control training courses