Clause 8 Operation
8.5.4 Preservation
Clause Criteria
The organization shall preserve the outputs during production and service provision, to the extent necessary to ensure conformity to requirements.
Explanation
This criteria was introduced as a new ISO 9001 requirement in 2015. The focus here is on identifying and managing the preservation of specified product and service elements throughout operations.
Refer to clause 8.5.2, where we have discussed the requirements for identification and traceability, which informs requirements for preservation, where applicable.
Other aspects can include:
Instructions on specific or unique processing and handling requirements.
Specification of requirements for packaging and storing product, both during processing and while waiting for dispatch or delivery.
Requirements for inspection, testing or further actions, where appropriate, to maintain the integrity of the product.
Most organization's will have a good understanding of how this criteria applies to them throughout normal processing and operations. Those that carry out bespoke work will need to consider how best to address this requirement of the Standard.
Note: It is important that the organization can demonstrate that it takes a formal approach to preservation, as described, with good record-keeping to support it's claim to conformance to this criteria.
Chief Explainer:
Phil Byrne