1.The check items shown on the left side column and the upper column have document characteristics.
Table1 shows an example of a weekly checklist for Machine A. It is used monthly. Check items has four items. The upper column indicates weekly check interval. Who made this decision? Who did approve and review the content? If one item add to present four items, how to handle with this change?
It means the left column and the upper column have to be under document control (4.2.3 clause of ISO9001: 2000). Thus the columns for draft, review and approval is placed on the upper right of the paper. What are to be reviewed and approved are the check items on the left side column and weekly check interval on the upper column side only.

2. The check records shown on the right side column have record characteristics.
According to the checklist, a person in charge of Machine A will check four items weekly and enter check markレ in the column. The results provide evidence of activities performed. Therefore, the right side of the paper is for record, not document referred to 4.2.3. When an operator enters in the check results, the paper changes from a document to a record.

3. Needs to make distinction between document and record clearly
Thus the paper has both characteristics of document and record, according to each column. So if you have no clear understanding of distinction between document and record, you will fail to do the right entry. The saying like records are a special type of document is ambiguous and it easily causes confusion on an actual entry in the paper.
I often encounter on a scene that an operator uses the paper with no sign of review and approval in each column. Then after record entry, a shop manager signed in the upper column to show his confirmation. It is a typical example to show misunderstanding of document and record.

4. Distinction between approval and confirmation
Following figure shows the difference between document and record.

According to above figure, you can make clear distinction between approval and confirmation as shown in Table2, to avoid loss caused by the confusion.

5. Lack of management in TPM
In Japan, TPM (Total Preventive Maintenance) promotes “ independent machine check” by a machine operator. Therefore there is no column for approval by authority. Generally a shop leader has its master list.
By chance I found in a factory a difference between check items of an operator’s checklist and its master, which his shop leader had. The operator’s checklist had seven items to check, but the master had nine. I found the different two items had added in the master about one and half year before. That meant the operator’s checklist had been left no revised for one and a half year until I found the difference.
The reason was that there was no system to check between the both checklist and the shop leader had not interested in the operator’s checklist due to independent concept.
Every day they had met, but no conversation about machine check. No shop management!
In the case of ISO9001: 2000 an operator cannot use a checklist without approval by some authority.