Explanation
Working preventively means stepping in before things go wrong. The trigger is not a full incident but a signal: a risk analysis, a near miss, a trend in complaints, an inspection finding or a change in the work. You ask: what can go wrong here and how do we prevent it?
Examples: planning maintenance before a machine breaks down, an extra check on a new process, a toolbox talk after a near miss in another department, a new work instruction for a changed method. As with corrective actions, you record owner, deadline and check.
The difference with a corrective action: preventive follows a risk or signal, corrective follows something that actually happened. In practice the line is fluid. A near miss involves no damage, so the measure that follows is usually preventive.
Example from practice
After a near miss at one site, the organisation checks at all sites whether the same scaffolding has the same weakness. A joint measure follows.
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