A follow-up is conducted, in some cases as part of an internal quality audit, to determine that the actions were indeed implemented and were effective in eliminating the root cause and preventing reoccurrence. Preventive action is identical in ISO 9001 and ISO 9002, but is not mandatory in ISO 9003. For ISO 9001 and ISO 9002, preventive action plays an important role in continuous improvement. Instead of waiting for something to go wrong to fix it, a preventive action system identifies areas which may go wrong. Preventive action follows the same basic principles of corrective action including as investigation, implementation and follow-up.
Preventive action can eliminate costly errors and breakdowns.
Summaries of both corrective and preventive action results are provided to the 'Management Review'. Again, this element is identical in ISO 9001 and ISO 9002, but is less comprehensive in ISO 9003. Organizations must determine which techniques, if any, apply in their operations and ensure that procedures are in place to correctly utilize these techniques.