Practical knowledge for Swiss SMEs
Reports & actions
Guides for “Reports & actions” in : step by step, with the place in the menu, the steps and the limits.
Reports & actions
Reports
Reports
QMS | base › Reports
All employees report errors (nonconformities), improvement suggestions and near misses, with photos, location and project. Handlers clarify causes (5×Why or Ishikawa), define actions, check effectiveness and, where needed, create an 8D report as a PDF.
Step by step
- Open “Reports” and press “Report”.
- If there are several reporting channels, choose the channel first, then answer “What is it about?” and enter a title and description.
- Collect attachments with “Choose file” or “Take photo” – images are shown as previews and can be removed one by one – then press “Send report”.
- As a handler: open the report, record the immediate action and the cause, create actions.
- Once the actions are done, assess the effectiveness and set the status to “Done”.
Dictation and help with the reporting channel
QMS | base › Reports › New report
In the report form and when filling in forms, text can be dictated with the browser’s voice input (Swiss German as de-CH, French, Italian, English depending on the user interface language). In the internal report form, the help “Which reporting channel fits?” uses AI and the channel descriptions to explain where a request belongs.
Step by step
- Click “Dictate description”, speak and finish with “End dictation”; the text can then be edited.
- For the help, briefly describe the request and click “Ask”.
Reporting channels
QMS | base › Reporting channels
Reporting channels group reports under their own prefix, their own handlers, confidentiality (open, internal, confidential), permitted types and labels. A public reporting channel has a link and QR code through which reports can also be made without logging in and anonymously.
Step by step
- Open “Reporting channels”.
- Under “New reporting channel”, define the name, prefix, types, confidentiality and handlers.
- For reports without logging in, choose “Public” and, if needed, “Allow anonymous reports”; display the link or QR code.
Knowledge article from a report
QMS | base › Reports › closed report › “Knowledge article” section
Creates a wiki draft from a closed report with problem, cause, immediate action and solution (actions). The draft then goes through the wiki’s review and approval.
Step by step
- Open the closed report.
- In the “Knowledge article” section, choose “Create knowledge article” – the draft opens in the wiki.
- Complete the draft and submit it for review. If an article already exists for the report, “To the knowledge article” leads straight to it.
Actions
Actions
QMS | base › Actions
All actions arising from reports, risks, controls, changes, forms, audits, reviews and meetings as a Kanban board or list; responsible persons move their actions from “Open” through “In progress” to “Done”. Each action has its own detail page with the effectiveness check and its history. Overdue actions are escalated daily. Legacy effectiveness assessments are retained in the history before the next review cycle. Unknown reviewers and review dates appear as “–”.
Step by step
- Open “Actions”; use “Mine only” to restrict the view to your own actions and “List” or “Kanban” to switch the view.
- Change the status using the arrow buttons on a card.
- Click the title to open the action in detail – on the board, in the list and on a mobile phone.
- For completed actions, expand “Assess effectiveness” (for managers of the source); every check stays in the history.
Action details
QMS | base › Actions › Action
Shows a single action with its description, note, status, source, responsible person and due date. Here you change the status, assess effectiveness and book time – even for completed actions. Every effectiveness check stays in the history with its result, date and the person who checked it.
Step by step
- Open “Actions” and click the title of an action (Kanban, “List” or on a mobile phone).
- Change the status with the status buttons, e.g. “In progress” or “Done”.
- For a completed action, expand “Assess effectiveness”, choose “Yes” or “No” under “Effective”, add a note and press “Save”.
- If it is not effective, it goes back to “In progress”; once it is done again, “Reassess effectiveness” is available.
- Use “Time” to book time to the action.
Book time on reports and actions
QMS | base › Reports › Report (“Time booking” section) or Actions › Card › “Time”
Records the effort spent handling a report or action with date, hours, minutes and note, and shows all bookings with the total in hours.
Step by step
- Open the report or choose “Time” on the action card.
- Enter the date, hours and minutes, add a short note and choose “Book time”.
- If necessary, remove one of your own bookings with “Delete”.
Incidents
Incident and data breach register
QMS | base › Incidents
Lists incidents in information security, data protection, environment, occupational safety and quality with number V-YYYY-NNN, severity, status and deadline traffic light. A warning appears when notifiable incidents have a notification deadline that is close or exceeded. With the right “Standard mapping and QMS settings”, the internal notification deadline can be set in hours (default 72).
Step by step
- Filter by status (open, contained, closed).
- Open an incident via its number.
- Create a new incident via “Record incident”.
Record incident
QMS | base › Incidents › Record incident
Records an incident with type, title, description, time of occurrence and discovery, severity, responsible person, affected assets and optionally the number of a report. For a data breach likely to result in a high risk, the incident becomes notifiable and the deadline runs from discovery; the responsible people and the quality management lead receive a notification.
Step by step
- Enter the type, title and description.
- Enter the time of discovery (default: now).
- Tick data breach and likely high risk, if applicable.
- Choose the affected assets and click “Record incident”.
Incident with deadline monitor
QMS | base › Incidents › Incident
Shows an incident with the deadline monitor: deadline running, ending soon (24 hours or less), exceeded or notified. Here you record the notification to the supervisory authority (“Notified on”, office) and the information of the data subjects, move the status on, create actions and record the cause and lessons learned.
Step by step
- Under “Record notification and information”, enter the time and office of the notification.
- Move the status on with “Mark as contained” or “Close”.
- Under “Actions”, create corrective actions with a responsible person and a due date.
- Use “Edit” to add the cause and lessons learned.
Whistleblowing system
Whistleblowing (case list)
QMS | base › Whistleblowing
Shows the cases of the whistleblowing system from all reporting channels in which you are assigned as a case handler and have no conflict of interest – with status, deadline indicator for acknowledgement of receipt and feedback, and deletion proposals. The legal situation with “Specialist review pending” is shown at the top.
Step by step
- Filter by status using the filter buttons (received, acknowledged, under investigation, closed).
- The deadline indicator shows the next open deadline; red notices at the top name cases that are due soon or overdue.
- Click a case number (HW-…) to handle the case.
- Use “Reporting channels” to create or change channels.
Handle a report (case)
QMS | base › Whistleblowing › case number
Shows a whistleblowing case with the decrypted description, contact (unless anonymous), attachments and deadline monitor. Case handlers acknowledge receipt, send feedback via the follow-up link, keep internal notes, close with an outcome, mark a conflict of interest and delete the content after closure.
Step by step
- Under “Messages to the reporting person”, acknowledge receipt (adjust the template and send); the case becomes “acknowledged”.
- Select “Start investigation” and add internal notes.
- Send feedback on the status and follow-up measures; the reporting person reads it via their follow-up link.
- Enter the outcome (substantiated, unsubstantiated, not responsible) and a closing note, then “Close case”.
- After closure, use “Permanently delete content”, at the latest when the case is proposed for deletion.
Reporting channels (whistleblowing system)
QMS | base › Whistleblowing › Reporting channels
Lists the reporting channels of the whistleblowing system with framework, case handlers and status, and creates new channels. Open cases are counted only for channels in which you are a case handler.
Step by step
- Open “Create reporting channel”.
- Choose the name, framework (“Switzerland (recommendation)” or “Directive (EU) 2019/1937”) and 1 to 5 case handlers.
- Check the categories (one per line), set the deletion proposal in months and “Allow anonymous reports”.
- Click “Create”; the public link and QR code then appear.
Edit reporting channel
QMS | base › Whistleblowing › Reporting channels › channel
Changes a reporting channel (name, framework, case handlers, categories, deletion proposal, anonymous reports, active), shows the public link with QR code and the history of changes to the case handlers.
Step by step
- Adjust the fields and click “Save”.
- Display the public link or QR code on site or link it on the intranet.
- If misuse is suspected, use “Renew link”: the previous link becomes invalid immediately.
Complaints, surveys & suppliers
Complaints
QMS | base › Complaints
Customer complaints with company, contact person, reference, assessment, reply, costs and credit note amount; after closing, feedback on satisfaction can be requested from the customer by email.
Step by step
- Open “Complaints” and press “New complaint”.
- If there are several reporting channels, choose the channel first, then enter the title, description and customer details; photos or a PDF can be attached as with reports.
- In the complaint, record the assessment, reply and credit note amount, and handle causes and actions as with reports.
- Once the complaint is “Done”, ask for the customer’s satisfaction using “Request feedback”.
Customer surveys
QMS | base › Customer surveys
Creates surveys with scale questions (1–5), a recommendation question (NPS 0–10) and free text. Active surveys can be reached without signing in via a public link or QR code. The results show, for each question, the average, distribution, NPS and text answers; the result can be adopted as the metric value of a quality objective.
Step by step
- Under “New survey”, enter the title, introduction and questions (adapt the suggested questions) and create the survey.
- Open the survey and choose “Activate”.
- Copy the public link or pass on the QR code, for example in an email or on the delivery note.
- Follow the results; with a linked quality objective, choose “Adopt as metric”.
- Finally choose “Close” – the link then no longer accepts responses.
Evaluate suppliers
QMS | base › Suppliers
Lists external providers with status (new, approved, conditionally approved, blocked), overall score of the latest evaluation, number of complaints and re-evaluation due. A supplier is evaluated against weighted criteria with 1 to 5 points; the overall score gives a proposed status and the date of the next evaluation.
Step by step
- Find the supplier using the search and the status filter, or fill in “Create supplier” below.
- Open the supplier and, under “Record an evaluation”, award 1 to 5 points per criterion; criteria and weightings can be adjusted, and the preview shows the overall score and proposal.
- Adopt the proposal or deliberately override the status, then save the evaluation. Approved suppliers fall due again after 12 months, conditionally approved ones after 6 months.
- With “Complaint to the supplier”, record a nonconformity relating to the supplier; the reports appear in the list on the supplier page.
The next step starts with a conversation.