By "Signature SOP", I mean an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) that defines what it means when a person signs their signature or initials on a document. E.g:
o An engineer signing for the engineering function, is only signing for the engineering portion of the document;
o Marketing is only signing for approving marketing issues in the document;
o Ditto Finance, Manufacturing, Operations ...;
o Senior management is signing that the document meets company requirements and address the issues, based on reliance on the other signatures by function; and
o QA is signing that the signatures are the latest after all iterations, that all elements mentioned in / required by the document have been addressed by the proper individual(s) / function(s), etc.
People have a hesitancy in signing a document dealing with subject matter they are unfamiliar with, may ask for unnecessary revisions, want additional clarification. They are rightly concerned to be signing and "agreeing" to something that they don't understand, together with what they are involved with on the document.
So such an SOP would clarify what each functions' / individual's signature really stands for, and what it doesn't, and can assist in:
1) getting the signatures,
2) defending a signature in an audit, and
3) defending a signature in court.
-- John E. Lincoln, jelincoln.com
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