document control and retention
I was watching one of the videos and something came to my mind, it is a question. Assume we have an SOP about equipment management in the master file and the copies in circulation at different laboratory sections, and the these documents get obsolete, and new ones are put into circulation but with the master file copy in place. Then the new version will have its own copy in the master file. Does this imply that we shall have an accumulation of the same SOP in the master file?
Comments
Hi Juan. From what I understand, yes, all of the versions of the SOP will be retained in the master file, but the obsolete ones in the various laboratory areas should be destroyed or relocated somewhere else such that they can't be used by accident (always supported by proper documentation). I'm just not sure what would happen to the master file itself if the procedure itself gets discontinued. My guess is it would still be retained for reference purposes?
To add to this, what we do in my lab is we have additional columns on the master file for 'date of discontinuation' and comment. So we still have records of the obsolete documents. For the document itself, the SOP for Document and Records control states the period after which the document should or may be destroyed. if for any reason, the master file itself needs to be retired or discontinued, it will be moved to archives and marked obsolete. It can be classified as a record 'I stand to be corrected' and so will be treated as such and the period of retention will also apply to the obsolete master file.