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Electronic Retention - Documented Information

Discussion in 'ISO 9001:2015 - Quality Management Systems' started by Pieter Naudé, Jun 10, 2020.

  1. Pieter Naudé

    Pieter Naudé New Member

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    Good Day all,

    I am sitting with a catch 22 situation, the company I am employed at has an archive store that is filled to the brim with hard copy documents. One of our senior management has suggested that we scan in all the hard copy documents and dispose of these to open up space for newer documents.

    Clause 7.5.3.2 (b) only addresses the storage and preservation of documentation which our system has fulfilled,

    My query is regarding the legality of electronic documents. Does the scanned document carry the same weight as the hard copy in a legal aspect if required after a project has been concluded?
     
  2. Andy Nichols

    Andy Nichols Moderator Staff Member

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    Welcome, Pieter.

    What you describe is common. Firstly, check on any product or related requirements (customer, regulatory, patent laws) to see what they might say. After that, you can do what you wish and as long as controls are put in place to ensure legibility, there's nothing to stop digitization of records. Be careful about the legibility aspects, since I know a copy who scanned hundreds of records and didn't check... They had blank forms as the digital image!

    You will have some other considerations which hard copy doesn't present (in the same manner) which is access, security, and disposal. Will the scanned files be in the cloud? Since you're effectively handing off storage of records to a supplier, it's worth being careful about which supplier you choose.
     
    Last edited: Jun 10, 2020