personnel. It is the direct responsibility of the work
center supervisor to ensure that the proper level of
QA inspection is assigned to the job when the job is
assigned to maintenance personnel. This procedure
allows the inspector to make a progressive
inspection as required. This also ensures that an
inspector is not confronted with a job that has been
completed before he can inspect it.
Direct communication between the QA branch
and the maintenance branch is a necessity and must
be energetically exercised.
Although the
maintenance officer is responsible for the overall
quality of the maintenance in the division, branch
officers, branch supervisors, and work center
supervisors are responsible for ensuring that
required inspections are conducted and that quality
workmanship is attained.
QUALITY ASSURANCE BRANCH
RESPONSIBILITIES AND FUNCTIONS
The QA branch is responsible for the
implementation, management, and monitoring of
specific programs designed to improve the quality of
maintenance, the training of personnel, adherence
to general and specific safety rules, and the analysis
of maintenance deficiencies, while minimizing
man-hour and material expenditures.
To carry out these responsibilities, personnel
assigned to the QA branch perform the following
duties:
Maintain the central TPL for the division.
Review incoming
technical publications and
directives to determine their application to
individual maintenance branches, and monitor the
management of the dispersed TPLs in the
maintenance branches.
Ensure that all work guides, equipment
guide lists, and maintenance requirement cards, and
other information used to define or control
maintenance are complete and current before
issuing to work centers.
Prepare or assist in the preparation of
maintenance instructions (MIs) to ensure that QA
objectives and requirements are defined.
Provide a continuous training program in the
techniques and procedures used to conduct
inspections. Participate as members of task forces
to study trouble areas and submit recommendations
for corrective action.
Establish requirements and qualifications for
QAI/CDQAIs and CDIs; review the qualifications of
personnel nominated for these positions; and
develop and administer written examinations to test
the knowledge of personnel nominated for QA
positions.
Provide technical assistance to CDIs and
assist in the PQS certification of maintenance
personnel.
Periodically accompany CDIs on
assigned inspections and evaluate their performance.
Monitor and review all requests for
departures from specifications, requests for
engineering information (REIs), hazardous material
reports (HMRs), fast-action discrepancy reports
(FADRs), feedback reports (FBRs), technical
publications deficiency reports (TPDRs), quality
deficiency reports (QDRs), and technical manual
deficiency/evaluation reports (TMDERs) to ensure
that they are clear, concise, and comprehensive
prior to submission.
Monitor the use of precision measuring
equipment (PME) to ensure compliance with
calibration intervals and safety instructions.
Inspect all maintenance equipment and
facilities to ensure compliance with fire and safety
regulations
and
existence of
satisfactory
environmental conditions.
Monitor training, qualification, and licensing
of equipment operators and drivers.
Maintain a Trend Analysis Program, either
through the periodic review of inspection records,
noting any recurring discrepancies requiring special
attention, or at the request of the work center
supervisor for a particular problem area on a
one-time or continuing basis.
Develop checklists for auditing work centers
and specific maintenance programs.
Billet descriptions are to be prepared for QA
personnel to ensure that all QA functions and
responsibilities are assigned to individual QAIs
assigned to the Q-A branch.
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