Appendix A: Glossary of Terms

A

Acceptance

The decision that an item, process, or service conforms to specified characteristics defined in codes, standards, or other requirement documents. (3)

Accountability

Responsibility for an activity, accompanied by rewards and recognition for good performance, and adverse consequences for performance that is unreasonably poor. (2)

Activity

Actions taken by a program or an organization to achieve its objectives. (2)

Assessment

An all-inclusive term used to denote the act of determining, through a review of objective evidence and witnessing the performance of activities, whether items, processes, or services meet specified requirements. Assessments are conducted through implementation of the following actions: audits, performance evaluations, management system reviews, peer reviews, or surveillances, which are planned and documented by trained and qualified personnel. (5)

Assessment/Verification

The act of reviewing, inspecting, testing, checking, conducting surveillances, auditing, or otherwise determining and documenting whether items, processes, or services meet specified requirements. DOE Order 5700.6C uses the terms assessment and verification synonymously. This order defines these terms by who is performing the work; assessments are performed by or for senior management, and verifications are performed by the line organization. (9)

Audit

A planned and documented activity performed to determine by investigation, examination, or evaluation of objective evidence the adequacy of and compliance with established procedures, instructions, drawings, and other applicable documents and the effectiveness of implementation. Audit should not be confused with surveillances or inspection activities performed for the sole purpose of process control or product acceptance. (3)

Also, a systematic check to determine the quality of operation of some function or activity. Audits may be of two basic types: (1) performance audits in which quantitative data are independently obtained for comparison with routinely obtained data in a measurement system, or (2) system audits of a qualitative nature that consist of an on-site review of a laboratory's quality system and physical facilities for sampling, calibration, and measurement. (5)

B

Baseline

The current level of performance at which an organization, process, or function is operating. (2)

Benchmarking

To measure an organization's products or services against the best existing products or services of the same type; the benchmark defines the 100 percent mark on the measurement scale. (2)

Also, the process of comparing and measuring an organization's own performance on a particular process against the performance of organizations judged to be the best of a comparable industry. (3)

Bottom Up

Starting with input from the people who actually do the work and consolidating that input through successively higher levels of management. (2)

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