l
l
l
CHAPTER 8
THE QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM
When you have read and understood this chapter, you should be able to answer the
following learning objectives:
Define the quality assurance program.
l
Explain the quality assurance organization.
Identify the levels of responsibility for quality
l
assurance.
l
Explain the quality assurance training required
for personnel.
Define the terms used in quality assurance.
Identify the various quality assurance forms and
records.
The quality assurance (QA) program provides a
uniform policy of maintenance and repair on ships and
submarines. It improves discipline in the repair of
equipment, safety of personnel, and configuration
control. It is essentially a program to ensure that all work
meets specifications or that any departure from
specifications is approved and documented. You, the
supervisor, are expected to carry out the QA program.
This chapter will give you the broad knowledge you
need to understand how it works.
CONCEPTS OF QUALITY ASSURANCE
The ever-increasing technical complexity of
present-day surface ships and submarines has pointed to
a need for special administrative and technical
procedures known collectively as the QA program. The
fundamental QA concept is that all maintenance
personnel have the responsibility to prevent defects
from the beginning to the end of each maintenance
operation. You must consider QA requirements
whenever you plan maintenance, and you must apply
the fundamental rule, MEET TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS AT ALL TIMES.
Quality control (QC) means you regulate events
rather than being regulated by them. It means you train
competent sailors and supervise them so they work with
proper methods, material, and tools. In other words,
knowledge is the key, and knowledge comes from
factual information. The QA program provides away to
document and maintain information on the key
characteristics of equipment. It helps you base decisions
on facts rather than intuition or memory. It provides
comparative data that will be useful long after you have
forgotten the details of a particular time or event. You
can get knowledge from data, ship’s drawings, technical
manuals, material references such as APLs, and many
other sources. As you use these sources, you will
develop the special skills you need to analyze
information and supervise QA programs. A good QA
program provides enough information so you can
change the workplace or procedures to accomplish the
following goals:
l
l
l
l
l
l
Improve the quality, uniformity, and reliability of
the total maintenance effort.
Improve the work environment, tools, and
equipment used in maintenance.
Eliminate unnecessary man-hour and dollar
expenses.
Improve the training, work habits, and
procedures of maintenance personnel.
Store, locate and distribute required technical
information more effectively.
Plan realistic material and equipment/
maintenance tasks.
THE QA MANUALS
The Navy’s fleet commanders in chief (CINC)
publish and update QA manuals that set forth minimum
QA requirements for both the surface fleets and the
submarine force. The type commanders (TYCOMs)
then publish QA manuals that apply to their forces but
8-1
