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English bloke just joined

Discussion in 'New Member Introductions' started by Ben Johnson, Aug 15, 2017.

  1. Ben Johnson

    Ben Johnson Member

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    Hello, Been perusing the forum for a while as guest, decided to join to perhaps leech some advice from folk in the future! It is a very handy source of information/advice so my thanks to all involved.

    I'm a Quality HSE Manager of nearly 4 years (small-medium engineering company), 1 year as Quality engineer before that. So the learning curve has been steep. Mainly focused on 9001 (successful transition to latest revision recently). Been starting to read up on 17025 potentially for our test laboratories too.

    Any advice on handling stress and the slow descent into madness that this role brings would be greatly appreciated.
     
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  2. Miner

    Miner Moderator Staff Member

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    Welcome to QFO. Well, I spent 15 years as an automotive tier 1 supplier, and I reduced the stress and slow descent by changing industries. That reduced it to a tolerable level. Also, the choice of companies is another major factor in this.
     
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  3. Nikki

    Nikki Well-Known Member

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    Welcome!!
     
  4. normzone

    normzone Well-Known Member

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    The field we work in comes with inherent stresses - they vary depending on the outfit you work with.

    Acknowledge that you will not be able to solve every challenge somebody thinks you should take on - Choose your battles carefully.

    Practice declining tasks that clearly belong to some other function, especially when they have more resources.

    Time spent doing fire prevention is more productive than fire fighting, but you'll always have to do some of the latter.

    If you didn't drink before you got into this trade, you will before you get out of it.

    You need exercise on a regular basis.
     
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  5. John C. Abnet

    John C. Abnet Well-Known Member

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    Good day Ben Johnson;
    Knowledge. The world of management systems and the ISO family of documentation is heavily ladened with opinion, presumption, falsehoods, and inaccuracies. These occur not only at the grass roots level of organizations (manufacturers, service group, associates, mid management, etc...), but also frequently within Sr. leadership groups, C-class officers, and even the 3rd parties tasked with overseeing and administrating the intent of the authors. Become a student of the standards and supporting documents in order to empower yourself with the knowledge and understanding to recognize when an inaccuracy is presented as rule.

    Hope this helps.
     
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  6. Andy Nichols

    Andy Nichols Moderator Staff Member

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    Welcome, mate! The answer to your question? Gin!
     
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  7. Miner

    Miner Moderator Staff Member

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    While that is a good answer, don't you go around giving innocent quality managers some of that stress and headaches?
     
  8. Andy Nichols

    Andy Nichols Moderator Staff Member

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    Moi? Noooo. I gave up auditing a loooooong time ago! I only challenge them to improve their QMS implementations and stop doing the same ol'...
     
  9. Ben Johnson

    Ben Johnson Member

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    Thanks for the warm welcome and for the sound advice! Wine is certainly a support, perhaps a recommended weekly alcohol intake should be put on Quality Management Job descriptions in the future.
     
  10. Andy Nichols

    Andy Nichols Moderator Staff Member

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    Wine? Wine? You'll need something stronger than that! :D
     
  11. Colin Pitman

    Colin Pitman Member

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    Hi Ben, good to see another English bloke here. Good luck in your role. My alcohol intake has certainly seen a recent upward trend...
     
  12. RoxaneB

    RoxaneB Moderator Staff Member

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    If I was American, I might be tempted to cry out "The British are coming! The British are coming!" ... ... ... come to think of it, however, my maternal grandfather was from Boston ... ... ... :rolleyes:
     
  13. Andy Nichols

    Andy Nichols Moderator Staff Member

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    Lincolnshire?
     
  14. RoxaneB

    RoxaneB Moderator Staff Member

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    You've lost me.
     
  15. Andy Nichols

    Andy Nichols Moderator Staff Member

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    The "original" Boston is in the English county of Lincolnshire...
     
  16. Colin Pitman

    Colin Pitman Member

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    Hehe, yeah, lots of North American cities/places were named after English counterparts, only to then become the better known. If someone says 'Boston' to me, even I automatically think of the US Boston! I'll just leave these here :D:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locations_in_the_United_States_with_an_English_name
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_locations_in_Canada_with_an_English_name
     
  17. Andy Nichols

    Andy Nichols Moderator Staff Member

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    Well, it is a fabulous city...
     
  18. Miner

    Miner Moderator Staff Member

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    Longfellow was a better poet that he was a historian. At the time the colonists were also "British". Paul Revere would have said "The Regulars are coming!" as the British troops were called regulars as opposed to the militia, or "Irregulars".
     
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