Immediate containment is the short-term action taken to control a suspected or confirmed quality, process, or product issue before the root cause and permanent corrective action are completed. It is used to prevent further processing, shipment, use, or mixing of potentially affected material while the issue is being evaluated.
In manufacturing quality workflows, immediate containment may include quarantining inventory or work in process, stopping a shipment, adding temporary inspection, segregating suspect lots, holding production at a defined operation, or disabling use of a tool, fixture, program, or process step. These actions are commonly recorded in nonconformance, 8D, RCCA, or CAPA workflows so that the scope, affected items, responsible owners, and release decisions are traceable.
Immediate containment is not the same as root cause analysis or permanent corrective action. It is a control measure that limits exposure and preserves status while investigation continues. It should also be distinguished from final disposition, which determines what happens to affected material after evaluation.