LPA QA Audit Checklist

soumya Ghorpade

LPA Quality Audits are crucial in assuring construction quality and compliance with Federal requirements, helping reduce rework, scrap, warranty holdbacks and ensure projects are finished on schedule.

This chapter synthesizes results from literature review, survey questions and interviews conducted with State transportation departments and LPAs to identify key issues and risks related to quality assurance procedures for construction. Furthermore, best practices are evaluated for mitigating these concerns.

Checklist Items

An effective process audit program is the cornerstone of a quality system. This type of audit goes beyond simple product sampling and inspection to verify that critical work processes are being implemented as intended, reducing rework, scrap, customer complaints and warranty holdbacks in organizations with such programs in place.

Effective checklists incorporate questions culled from PFMEAs, work instructions, customer-reported issues and verification activities from corrective actions to quickly identify high-risk areas. Questions must be clear and concise without using industry jargon; adding photos may help auditors better comprehend the answers they should expect to see; additionally consider an automated LPA platform which randomizes questions regularly so as to remain up-to-date.

Consultant selection criteria must follow those outlined in Fig. 136.4.1 unless an LPA receives prior MoDOT approval to deviate. Furthermore, its proposal should be clear and provide enough details to allow a complete review of its bids by MoDOT.

Checklist Format

With a comprehensive checklist in place, it is easier to ensure quality on the shop floor. A good checklist includes a comprehensive list of tasks that need to be accomplished and can help track how well things are going and where improvements may need to be made.

Make sure your checklist is easy for everyone to read and comprehend by using large print and an unambiguous layout. In addition, ensure it can be actioned on effectively to maximize its value and effectiveness.

Finding an audit tool capable of supporting Level 2 Layered Process Audit checklist creation quickly and effectively is essential. A low-code platform can also assist in automating processes to increase performance. Furthermore, using such software allows you to share documents instantly between multiple people – an excellent way of avoiding misplaced work or duplicative efforts.

Checklist Requirements

Use of a low-code platform can speed up and streamline the creation of Level 2 LPA checklists for your team, saving them both time and resources. Low-code platforms are software applications designed to make creating software programs simple without needing extensive coding knowledge.

Layered Process Audits (LPAs) are short, frequent inspections conducted by production staff and management teams to provide a consistent level of assurance and demonstrate that conformance to quality standards is everyone’s responsibility.

Tervene provides your team with a simple and intuitive tool for conducting audits on the go, enabling multiple layers of auditors with different audit frequencies to conduct them as scheduled inspections roll around, manage corrective actions all on one platform and allow your team members to fill out digital LPA checklists anytime from anywhere – making their job simple and convenient!

Checklist Recommendations

Create cross-functional teams to audit processes. Be sure to include people unfamiliar with each process on the team to reduce bias and pencil-whipping, and keep audit duration short; too much information could be lost if audits go too long without completion or valuable insights being gleaned from them. Randomize questions periodically during audits in order to prevent audit fatigue and ensure data integrity.

Do not ask questions that are subjective in nature, such as “is the work instruction posted?”. Rather, pose more objective queries like “Has oily rag waste been cleared from the workstation and placed into designated waste bins?” This type of question will identify real problems while helping reduce product defects.

Don’t forget to set layered process audits regularly – SafetyCulture’s Scheduling feature reminds quality auditors when shift or weekly LPA audits are due and provides the time window in which it must be completed, thus helping ensure maximum value from LPAs. In addition, SafetyCulture analytics provide quick overviews of frequently failed items so you can quickly identify and fix problems as soon as they arise.

 

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