ABSTRACT
Management must make readily available records to demonstrate how effectively their organization is implementing the standards. These documents or “records” and the control of them is over and above the requirements of the document control process found under International Standardization Organization (ISO) 14001 and ISO 9001. ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 contains some very specific requirements regarding customers and subcontractors which do not have a comparative requirement in ISO 14001. Specifically, ISO 9001 states that: pertinent quality records from the subcontractor shall be an element of these data and, where agreed contractually, quality records shall be made available for evaluation by the customer or the customer’s representative for an agreed period. In contrast, records control has its primary focus on the supporting documentation that verifies whether or not the procedures are effective. Records provide information to monitor and measure the quality or environmental management system and to implement the corrective action process.
