Company Name: Document No.

QUALITY AND STANDARDS AUTHORITY OF ETHIOPIA OP/QD/015

Title: Issue No. Page No.:

Complaints Handling Procedure 1 Page 1 of 5

ISSUE HISTORY
Issue Description of Change Author Effective Date
1 Initial release Alemna Jaleta 2000 May 19

REFERENCE DOCUMENTS
Document Number Document Title
ES ISO 9001: 2000, Clause 14 Corrective and preventive action
ES ISO 8402: 2000 Quality management and quality assurance- Vocabulary

CONTENTS FOR DCC USE ONLY

ISSUE HISTORY 1
REFERENCE DOCUMENTS 1
1 PURPOSE 1
2 SCOPE 1
3 PROCESS OWNER 1
4 INVOLVED 1
5 INDICATORS 1
6 DEFINITIONS AND ABREVATIONS 2
7 PROCEDURE 3
7.1 PROCESS FLOWCHART 3
7.2 DESCRIPTION OF PROCESS STEPS 4
7.3 ADDITIONAL DESCRIPTION TO THE PROCESS STEPS 5
7.4 GENERAL SUPPLEMENTS 5
8 RECORDS 5
9 RELATED DOCUMENTS 5

1 PURPOSE
This procedure defines the method for handling customer complaints.

2 SCOPE
This procedure applies to all complaints reported by external and internal customers.

3 PROCESS OWNER
Quality Manager

4 INVOLVED
Heads of Directorates/Branch Offices/Services, Director General, Board of Management,

5 INDICATORS
Indicators will be specified in the subsequent issues of this document.

Approval:

Name Signature Date

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QUALITY AND STANDARDS AUTHORITY OF ETHIOPIA OP/QD/015

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Complaints Handling Procedure 1 Page 2 of 5

6. DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS

6.1 Definitions

For the Purpose of this procedure the terms and definitions given in ES ISO 8402: 2000 and the
followings apply.

6.1.1 complaint: Any non-conformity or dissatisfaction reported by external and internal customers.

6.1.2 complaints originator: Either an individual or an organization reporting complaints.

6.1.4 act: Primary responsibility allocated to a person or group of persons to accomplish a specific
process/activity, which results in a specific output.

6.1.5 involved: Contributory responsibility allocated to a person or group of persons to accomplish a

specific process/activity, which results in a specific output.

6.2 Abbreviations

ACT: Act
DCC: Document Control Center
DG: Director General
FLW: Flowchart
HBO: Heads of Branch Offices
HD: Heads of Directorates
INF: Informed
INV: Involved
QM: Quality Manager

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QUALITY AND STANDARDS AUTHORITY OF ETHIOPIA OP/QD/015

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Complaints Handling Procedure 1 Page 3 of 5

7 PROCEDURE
7.1 Process Flowchart
Input Process Responsibility Output
QM DG HD/HBO
Registered
1 complaints (filled
Complaints ACT INF
Complaints registration form OF/QD/032)
registration form
OF/QD/032

2
Service request Forwarding complaints to the Forwarded
form relevant head of Directorate/ complaints (filled
OF/GM/038 & Branch Office/Service or ACT INF forms OF/GM/038
filled form Director General for corrective & OF/QD/032)
OF/QD/032 action

Filled forms
OF/GM/038 &
OF/QD/032 & 3 Corrective action
Corrective action INF ACT report (filled form
OP/LD/028,
form OF/QD/103 – part
OF/QD/103 1only)

4 Yes
Complaints
Resolved?

No
Corrective action
report (filled 5
form Identifying the root causes of
unresolved complaints & ACT INF INV Recommended
OF/QD/103–
recommending corrective action corrective action
part 1only)

6
Recommended Approval of Approved corrective
corrective action recommended INF ACT INF action
corrective action
No

Yes

Approved 7 INV INF ACT Settled complaints

corrective action Implementation of corrective action

Settled
complaints, Complaints
Filled form 8 resolution report
Reporting of corrective ACT INF (Completed form
OF/QD/103
(part 1only) actions OF/QD/103)

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QUALITY AND STANDARDS AUTHORITY OF ETHIOPIA OP/QD/015

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7.2 Description of process steps

FLW Process steps

1 All complaints shall be directed to and registered by the Quality Manager using Form
OF/QD/032.

2 • Form OF/QD/032 shall be filled in two copies and Quality Manager shall file one copy and
the other shall be forwarded to the relevant head of Directorate/Branch Office/Service or
Director General accompanied by filled form OF/GM/038.
• Complaints reported against heads of Directorates/Branch Offices/Services and the
office of the Director General, except complaints reported against the Director General,
shall be forwarded to the Director General and resolved as per OP/LD/028 “Corrective
and Preventive Action Procedure”.
• Complaints against the Director General shall be directed to the chairman of the QSAE
Board of Management to be resolved.
• Complaints reported against organizational plan and reputation, and policy issues shall be
handled by the Quality Manger as per this procedure.

3 • Corrective actions shall be taken by the relevant head of Directorate/Branch

Office/Service, or the Director General as per OP/LD/028 “Corrective and Preventive
Action Procedure”.
• Corrective actions taken shall be immediately reported to the Quality Manager filled in form
OF/QD/103 (part one only), clearly indicating resolutions and agreements reached with
the originator of the complaints and unresolved complaints, if any.
• Complaints difficult to resolve at Directorates/Branch Offices/Services level due to
shortage of resources shall be reported to the Quality Manger for corrective action.

4 Description is not required for this process step.

5 The Quality Manager shall:

• discuss with the originator of the complaints and the relevant Head of Directorate/Branch
Office/Service or the Director General to find the root causes of unresolved complaints,
reported either by the originator of the complaints or the relevant Head of
Directorate/Branch Office/Service or the Director General, and propose corrective
actions.
• find the root causes of complaints reported against organizational plan and reputation, and
policy issues and propose corrective actions.

6 Recommended corrective actions shall be approved to ensure that:

• They are relevant and adequate to the degree of non-conformity;
• They are implementable; and
• The necessary resources are available for effective implementation.

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QUALITY AND STANDARDS AUTHORITY OF ETHIOPIA OP/QD/015

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7 • The Quality Manager shall implement corrective actions for complaints reported against
organizational plan and reputation, and policy issues.
• The relevant head of Directorate/Branch Office/Service or the Director General shall
implement the recommended corrective actions to settle the unresolved complaints
relevant to them.
• If yet the complaints are not resolved, the Quality Manager shall report to the Director
General. The Director General may form a panel, as necessary, to identify the root causes
of the unresolved complaints and recommend appropriate corrective actions, after
discussion with the originator of the complaints and the relevant head of
Directorate/Branch Office/Service. Panel members shall be selected from persons who
have not been the cause of the complaints and may include external bodies, as necessary.

8 The Quality Manager shall:

• Produce a final report on corrective actions taken to settle the reported complaints, filled in
form OF/QD/103 (part 2); and
• Initiate management review to be conducted as per OP/GM/064 “Management Review
Procedure” to review the corrective actions taken.

7.3 Additional description to the process step

Additional descriptions are not required for this procedure.

7.4 General supplements

General supplements are not required for this procedure.

8 RECORDS

The Quality Manager has the responsibility to maintain the following records:

• Master register of complaints

• Customer report of complaints
• Complaints resolution report

9 RELATED DOCUMENTS

Document Number Document Title

OF/QD/032 Complaints Registration Form
OF/GM/038 Service Request Form
OF/QD/103 Complaints Resolution Report Form
OP/LD/028 Corrective and Preventive action procedure
OP/GM/064 Management Review Procedure

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