preventive action

whole books, white papers, conference key notes have been generated on what the heck is a preventive action.  Now before we go on, let's answer this question first.  What is the difference between preventive and preventative.  The short answer is none.  The short definition of preventive (according to http://www.yourdictionary.com/) is 'anything that prevents'.  And when you search on preventative it says 'variant of preventive.'  And so in the real world they are just variant of each other with the focus on prevention.  So what is the relationship with corrective action?  The standard gives each one whole sub element.  The majority of non-quality-expert people simply merge the two with the intent of having one precede the other in a continuous improvement cycle.  I think this is good thing.  But it cannot be an exclusive use of the preventive sub element. 

In an effective quality management system, a proactive review of 'what if' questions should be addressed or at least discussed and recorded in an attempt to totally prevent an occurrence that could be detrimental to the qms and or the company in general.  Why not record such a discussion in management review.  Why not make it a standing management review agenda item.  Or why not even program a quarterly review of data trying to identify possible trends, possible emergence, etc.  Then either record such musings in the minutes of your management review or start a NCR, CAR, CAPA, or whatever you call your corrective action / continuous improvement mechanisms and record your findings there.  Simple.  Don't forget, the standard does require a documented procedure on this sub element, so draft one and either keep it stand alone or merge it with your corrective action procedure or management review procedure (if you have one).