Report to: General Committee Report
Date:
SUBJECT: Quality Management System Operational Plan Endorsement
PREPARED BY: Eddy Wu, P.Eng., Ext. 2737
Waterworks, Quality Management System Controller
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the report titled “Quality Management System Operational Plan Endorsement” be received;
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Not applicable
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to present to Council the Operational Plan for the Town’s Quality Management System, to request Council for the acceptance and approval of the Operational Plan, and to advise Council on the implementation progress of the Quality Management System in order to comply with the Ministry of Environment’s Drinking Water Quality Management Standard (DWQMS).
BACKGROUND:
Waterworks has
taken the lead of implementing the Quality Management System for the Town in
order to comply with DWQMS and the submission deadline of
From the Governance Options for the Management and Operating Structure of the Operating Authority for the Markham Drinking Water Distribution System Report, Council has accepted the Corporation of the Town of Markham to assume the roles and responsibilities as the Owner and the Operating Authority of the Markham Drinking Water System as defined in the Safe Drinking Water Act, and required by the DWQMS.
From the Quality Management System Gap Analysis and Delivery Plan Report, Council has accepted the proposed structures of the Corporate Top Management, the Corporate Operational Top Management and the Waterworks Quality Management System Controller as the Quality Management System Representative, as required by the DWQMS.
From the Quality Management System Policy Report, Council has accepted the proposed Quality Management System Policy as the Town’s Quality Management System Policy in order to comply with DWQMS.
All the above endorsements had completed the implementation of five of the twenty one elements of the DWQMS. These are key steps and major milestones of the QMS implementation.
As required by the DWQMS, documentation is required to outline all the processes within the QMS. Waterworks has adopted the following model to set up the documentation structure of the QMS:
Implementation of
the DWQMS is divided into three steps –
The Operational Plan is the highest level documentation in the structure and therefore it only defines the approach, organization and responsibilities for each element of DWQMS. In the next level down, the System Level Documents explain the “Who, What, When and Where” of the DWQMS elements in more detail. Under the System Level Documents are the Standard Operating Procedures where the “How” of specific tasks are documented. If there is a need to further expand a Standard Operating Procedure then specific Work Instruction is developed for a specific task. Generally it is expected that there can be multiple Work Instructions coming out from one single Standard Operating Procedure. Lastly, records are maintained as the proof of activities listed in the above levels of documents.
OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:
QMS
Operational Plan
The Operational
Plan is the documentation of the QMS and is not an Operations and Maintenance
manual. The
In the Operational Plan, the following contents are required as per DWQMS. The Operational Plan shall document and address all 21 elements:
1. A Quality Management System that meets the requirements of DWQMS
2. A QMS Policy that provides the foundation for the QMS
3. A written endorsement of its contents by Top Management and the Owner
4. The identification of a QMS Representative
5. A procedure for document and records control
6. A description of the drinking water system
7. A risk assessment process
8. The outcomes from the risk assessment process
9. A description of the organizational structure including roles, responsibilities and authorities
10. The knowledge, skills and abilities that personnel whose jobs affect drinking water quality must have, and the activities necessary to ensure that competency requirements are met
11. A procedure to describe how enough personnel who meet the identified competencies are available for duties that directly affect drinking water quality
12. A procedure for communications that describes how the relevant aspects of the QMS are communicated
13. The identification of all supplies and services essential for the delivery of safe drinking water and a procedure to ensure the quality of these essential supplies and services
14. A procedure for the annual review of the adequacy of the infrastructure necessary to operate and maintain the drinking water system
15. A summary of all infrastructure maintenance, rehabilitation and renewal programs for the drinking water system
16. Processes for sampling, testing and monitoring within the drinking water system
17. A procedure for the calibration and maintenance of the measurement and recording equipment
18. A procedure to maintain a state of emergency preparedness
19. A procedure for internal audits
20. A procedure for management review that evaluates the continuing suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of the QMS
21. A procedure to continually improve the effectiveness of the QMS through the use of corrective actions
Waterworks has completed the Operational Plan (in Attachment “A”) with inputs from Fire and Emergency Services, Building Standard, Engineering, Finance and Client Services and Human Resources. The above requirements are all addressed in the Operational Plan, and further details of each element are incorporated by System Level Documents as required. The QMS documentation structure has different layers to provide increase in level of detail per specific instruction subject to element complexity.
This Operational
Plan satisfies the requirement outlined in the DWQMS, and will be submitted to
MOE as part of the application for municipal drinking water license, drinking
water works permit and permit to take water on or before
As DWQMS only require processes that affect the safety and quality of the drinking water of the Town’s drinking water system, only these identified processes will be documented prior to the application deadline. The remaining processes will be captured and documented once the accreditation has been received, as part of the Continuous Improvement of the QMS.
The Operational Plan is a live and controlled document, and it will undergo an annual review to ensure the content is up-to-date. All other controlled documents will follow the same process.
Implementation Progress Update and Next Actions
The following table provides the summary of next steps in DWQMS implementation:
|
Description and action |
Target |
|
Complete all required documentation for initial application |
End of June 2008 |
|
Controlled QMS Documentation forwarded to Owner and Operating Authority |
End of September 2008 |
|
Perform internal audits |
End of September 2008 |
|
Perform Management Review Meeting |
End of October 2008 |
|
Prepare for submission to MOE for the application |
End of December 2008 |
The documentation of all required documentation for the purpose of meeting submission requirement the DWQMS has already commenced, and is targeted to be completed by the end of June 2008. Upon completion of all the required procedures, each responsible section and department will review the procedure and put them in practice.
Upon completion of the review of procedures, internal audits are to be performed in order to verify the compliance to the procedures documented. All internal audits are targeted to be completed by the end of September.
Upon completion of all internal audits, the Management Review meeting is to be scheduled to review the entire implementation progress and the audit results. The result and outcome from this meeting will be communicated to the Owner by the mean of a General Committee report targeted to be done by the end of November.
Waterworks has set the target to complete all the requirements and be ready for the application for accreditation by the end of 2008. Later this year Waterworks will submit reports to the General Committee in order to address the readiness of our license application:
1. The remaining DWQMS documentations after the submission of the Operational Plan for endorsement
2. The outcomes from the Management Review meeting including the internal audit results
3. The overall implementation process summary and to request the Owner to select the implementation option for the purpose of application
A controlled QMS documentation binder consisting of the Operational Plan and the cross referenced System Level Procedures will be distributed to each member of the Owner and the Operating Authority later this year so that each member will have quick access to all the core QMS documentations. This binder will be controlled by Waterworks by the Document and Record Control procedure in order to ensure that the content of the binder will be up-to-date at all time. At the same time, an electronic document control system is currently being implemented. Once the electronic control method is implemented successfully, the electronic controlled documentations will then replace the controlled hard copies, and all controlled documentations will be available online.
As the Town has achieved the NQI Organizational Quality and Wellness Level 2, the implementation of QMS will further enhance internal operations, and be able to assist with the achievement of NQI Level 3. For level 3, organizations are required to demonstrate themselves as the Role Model with the key outcome of widespread improvement through preventative approaches and practices, leading to differentiation for the municipality and positive outcomes over the long term. This key outcome ties in very well with element 19 – Internal Audits and element 21 – Continual Improvement of DWQMS, as internal audits are to be performed regularly in order to identify opportunities for improvement, to implement corrective and preventive actions for these opportunities so that these opportunities will not be evaluated to become threads for the operation.
Other Level 3 outcomes include a sustained leadership focus on quality and wellness issues, positive achievements in meeting and exceeding goals and a sustained focus on quality and wellness issues. All of these outcomes lead to optimization of excellence, resulting in a culture of quality and wellness that becomes a way of life, where QMS fits in well with the quality aspect of the model since the Owner of the Drinking Water System (Council) is involved and committed to improve via Continuous Improvement element 21 of DWQMS.
The establishment of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and process mappings for all critical drinking water related processes will also fit well under the NQI Level 3 program, and these requirements are required in both DWQMS and NQI Level 3 programs. By starting to document the KPIs and process mapping will only enhance the implementation of NQI Level 3 program in overall.
In conclusion, we
are still on target for option 3 – Full Implementation by
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS AND
TEMPLATE: (external link)
Not applicable
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:
Not applicable
ACCESSIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS:
Not applicable
ENGAGE 21ST CONSIDERATIONS:
Implementation of the QMS fits well with these corporate goals set for engaging 21st century:
Fiscal Stewardship – Implementing the QMS will further ensure each critical step that affects the safety and quality of the Town’s drinking water is in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act, thus resources are managed properly and taxpayers receive the best value for their money.
Infrastructure Management & Managed Growth – The QMS has built in elements to ensure infrastructure is properly maintained, reviewed, rehabilitated and renewed in order to meet the demands and expectations of the Town’s growing community.
Organizational Excellence – The QMS has built in elements to ensure staff are competent in performing their duties in order to achieve excellence in managing and delivering quality services through quality people.
BUSINESS
UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
Business units consulted:
1. Fire and Emergency Service
2. Engineering
3. Human Resources
4. Finance and Client Services
5. Building Standard
The undersigned represent the Top Management of Town of Markham’s Drinking Water Distribution System and by signing below the Top Management has reviewed and approved the Operational Plan.
RECOMMENDED
BY: ________________________
Jerry Klaus
General Manager, Waterworks
________________________
Peter Loukes, P.Eng.
Commission Lead, Operations and Asset Management
________________________
John Livey
Chief Administrative Officer
ATTACHMENT:
Attachment “A”:
Quality Management System Operational Plan –
Attachment “B”: Quality Management System Implementation Progress Summary
Q:\Commission Share\Operations and Asset Management\Reports\2008\Waterworks\Municipal Licensing Program\QMS Operational Plan Endorsement.doc