Compliance
Keeping compliance answers verified
Purpose Purpose
Some requirements have to be checked again and again: first aiders refresh their training every year, first aid kits are checked every quarter, and eyewash stations are tested every month. A Compliance answer that was true a year ago may not be true today.
An expiry interval on a question tells 21RISK how often each site must verify its answer. When a site's verification is older than the interval, the answer expires: 21RISK moves it out of its closed status, so the board's compliance reflects that the check is overdue.
This is relevant for compliance managers who own a standard with recurring checks, and for site managers who answer them.
Setting an expiry interval Setting an expiry interval
Open Questions by site on the board, open the question with Ctrl/Cmd + click on its name, and fill in Must be verified every with a number and a unit: days, weeks, months or years. Leave it empty if answers to the question never expire.
- Only questions can have an expiry interval. Sections cannot.
- Changing or removing the interval is a minor change. It applies straight away to every site's answer, using the date each answer was last verified.
- Each question can have its own interval, so a standard can mix monthly, quarterly and yearly checks.
Tip: When you add an interval to a question that sites answered a long time ago, answers that were last verified before the interval began will expire the next time 21RISK checks. That shows honestly which sites are overdue, but let the sites know before you do it.
How an answer is verified How an answer is verified
An answer counts as verified on the day it moves to a closed status, such as Compliant. You can see it in the answer: under the status, 21RISK shows how often the question must be verified, when the answer was last verified, and when it expires.
When the check has been done again and the answer is still correct, click Verify. It records that the answer was verified today and restarts the interval. The button changes with what you have edited:
| Button | When |
|---|---|
| Verify | Nothing has changed; you are verifying the answer as it is |
| Verify with comment | You have written a comment, for example about the evidence you checked |
| Verify with changes | You have also changed other fields, such as the status or the files |
- Verify only appears for questions with an expiry interval, while the answer's status is a closed status.
- The verification is always today's date. It cannot be backdated.
- While files you attach are still uploading, Verify is unavailable. It becomes available again as soon as the upload finishes.
- Verifying an answer that was already verified today changes nothing.
What happens when an answer expires What happens when an answer expires
21RISK checks for expired answers every hour. When an answer's verification is older than its question's interval, 21RISK:
- Moves the answer to the board's expired status, or to the board's default status if none is chosen.
- Keeps everything else on the answer, including notes, files, responsible and the date it was last verified, so the next verification can build on it.
- Records the change in the answer's history as an Automation entry marked Verification expired.
- Sends notifications and runs automations as it does for any other status change.
Answers that are not applicable to a site do not expire. When the question becomes applicable again, the answer is checked like any other.
Choosing the expired status Choosing the expired status
Open the board's Settings and go to Expired answers. Choose the status expired answers should move to, for example a status called "Verification due". To use the board's default status instead, click the chosen status again to clear it, and save.
- The status must be an open status that is used on the board. Closed statuses are greyed out, because an expired answer is no longer compliant.
- When you replace the status on the board, expired answers move to the replacement instead. When you remove or delete it, they move to the board's default status.
Following up on expiring answers Following up on expiring answers
The Questions table has a Verified and an Expires column. They are hidden by default; show them with Manage table to see when each answer was last verified and when it expires. You can sort and filter on them too, for example to find everything that expires in the next 30 days.
The same columns can be used in automations. For example, a scheduled automation that notifies the responsible person about answers that expire within the next month gives sites time to verify before an answer expires.
Major changes Major changes
A major change to a question resets its answers, and with them their verification: the new version has to be answered and verified again. If you reset all answers to a closed status as part of the major change, they count as verified that day.
For API users For API users
- Set the interval with
expiryIntervalAmountandexpiryIntervalUnit(day,week,monthoryear) when creating or updating a question. Sendingnullfor the amount removes the interval. - Verify an answer with
verify: truewhen updating it. The request is rejected if the answer does not end up in a closed status or its question has no interval. - Choose the expired status with
updateBoardExpiredStatus, passingexpiredStatusId, ornullfor the board's default status.