Investigation of the quality management system at Lockyer Valley Regional Council

Abstract

This project involves an investigation into the quality management system used at Lockyer Valley Regional Council (LVRC) for the construction and maintenance of civil infrastructure, which includes roads, drainage structures and bridges. The aim of the project is to investigate the quality management system used at Lockyer Valley Regional Council and make recommendations for improvements to the system. The improvements to the system will be achieved by conducting a comparative review of the existing quality management systems and ensuring that all quality policies and management plans are in accordance with AS/NZS ISO 9001:2008 requirements. After conducting a literature review, it was found that the current quality management systems, which are in practice today, are the result of extensive work within the field of quality, which began with Walter Shewart, who introduced the term quality assurance to improve quality through the use of statistical control methods’ (Russell & Taylor, 2007). Over time, these processes were eventually developed into a series of standards and requirements that were necessary for an organization to achieve effective quality managementThe ISO series of standards are developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation. The ISO 9000 series of quality management requirements and in particular ISO 9001 are used throughout the world as the required quality management standard and have also been wholly adopted by the Australian and New Zealand Standards. According to AS/NZS ISO 9001:2008, the quality management system documentation shall include a quality policy and quality objectives, a quality manual, documented procedures and records of quality and documents, including records, determined by the organization to be necessary to ensure the effective planning, operation and control of its processes. A comparative review of the existing quality management system at Lockyer Valley Regional Council was undertaken against other Council’s quality management system as well as the requirements of other government departments such as the Queensland Department of Main Roads. The existing quality management system at Lockyer Valley Regional Council was also reviewed against AS/NZS ISO 9001:2008 to ensure that it complies with the requirements specified within the standard. After conducting a review of the existing systems at the former Laidley Shire Council and Gatton Shire Council, it was found that some sections of the existing systems were compliant, while others were in need of improvement or were non-compliant. Recommendations for improvements to the existing systems were then determined for the areas where a deficiency occurs. The main areas where recommendations for improvements can be made include: documenting existing internal processes; improving procedures for conducting audits and management reviews; identifying the competency of the workforce and future training needs; and improving communication processes between Council and its customers to ensure their requirements are met and that they are satisfied with the outcomes