Difference Between Check Sheet and Checklist

Both checklist and check sheets are tools or techniques used in quality management. Whenever people hear these two words, they get confused that both checklist and check sheet are either one or have the same function. So, here we will understand what Checklist and Check Sheet are and what is their function-

Check Sheet:

The Check Sheet is a form that is used to collect data at the same location where data is produced in real-time. The data fetched by Check Sheet can be quantitative or qualitative. If this data is quantitative then the check sheet is also known as a tally sheet. The Check Sheet is one of the tools of Seven Basic Tools of Quality Control.

A Check Sheet is split into regions and marks made on these different regions which have different significance. We can read this data by observing the location and number of marks on the sheet. Every Check Sheet is generally placing a heading that answers the Five Ws, which are as follows –

• Who filled out the Check Sheet?
• What data was collected?
• Where the collection of data took place?
• When the collection of data took place?
• Why the data were collected?

Use of Check Sheet in Quality Control:

There are five uses of Check Sheet which are as follows –

• To check the shape of the probability distribution of a process.
• To quantify defects by type.
• To quantify the defects by location.
• To Quantify defects by cause.
• To keep track of the completion of a step in a multistep procedure.

Checklist:

A checklist is nothing but a to-do list. A checklist is a tool that is used to find out that if a set of steps have been taken or not. It provides help to take care of the task such as if a required task or action is completed or not and if a required item has been included or not.

The checklist is presented in the form of a list in which small checkboxes on the left-hand side of the page is drawn. In these small checkboxes, a small tich or checkmarks are marked which represents that this item or action has been done or completed.

It is better to not use a Checklist in time-critical situations like a medical emergency or in-flight emergency. Common sense should not be replaced by a checklist.

There are various applications of the Checklist such as –

• In the aviation sector a pre-flight checklist aid to ensure that critical items are not left.
• Operational procedure in Industries.
• Open-source litigation checklist.
• Used in Software Engineering to check compliance of process, standardisation of code, prevention of error etc.
• In risk management system.
• Can be used in the investment process for the purpose of investment and many more.