Risks and opportunities in processes

I work for a company that applies coatings on certain surfaces, that is also the scope of the current ISO 9001:2008 certificate we have; applying coatings on certain surfaces and metalizing objects. I'm really not sure how to address risks and opportunities regarding those activities. For example, do I need to address the risk a wrong kind of coating can be applied or is that too specific? I'm a little lost in the terminology that's being used.

Answer:

The standard requires organization to determine the risks and opportunities that need to be addressed to:

a) give assurance that the quality management system can achieve its intended result(s);
b) enhance desirable effects;
c) prevent, or reduce, undesired effects;
d) achieve improvement.

This includes risks and opportunities within the processes and especially the risks regarding nonconforming products that you've mentioned. You can decide to use some methodology for identification and evaluation of risks and opportunities, such as FMEA or you can just talk with people involved in the processes and find out what are the risks they are facing on day-to-day basis. Once you determine the risks, you need to take actions to address them, the actions can include documenting procedure or work instruction, sending people to training, changing the process or activity to avoid the risk, etc.

The risk you've mentioned is not too specific, actually it is the kind of the risk that should be addressed. For more information about risks and opportunities, see:
- How to address risks and opportunities in ISO 900 https://advisera.com/9001academy/blog/2016/06/21/how-to-address-risks-and-opportunities-in-iso-9001/