QA trending for management assessment

At Louisiana Power and Light Co. (LP and L) the need was recognized to trend reported events, incidents, and occurrences. The type of reports trended are those that could affect the safety of personnel or the reliability of equipment. The quality trend program objectives are to: (1) provide a method for collecting, correlating, and analyzing nonconforming conditions and conditions adverse to quality; (2) identify any potential significant trends; and (3) systematically assess organization performance. The paper describes the development of the current program, evaluation process, adverse trends, reports, and weighting. The program in use today at LP and L provides a useful tool for management to identify potential adverse quality trends.