Re: Guidelines for SOP s

["Zack Clayton" <zack.clayton@epa.state.oh.us>]

I can't point you at a website, but in terms of writing SOPs, I can share what I have just gone through with ours.  

1.  Get someone you trust to do the procedure.  Take notes and ask questions about what they are doing and why they are doing it.  This may annoy them so be patient.  After you have captured their activity you can ask about alternative ways of doing it.  

2.  Write this as a text flow chart or checklist., just like a simple computer program.  Try to be linear.  No spaghetti code and keep your subroutine calls to a minimum.  If some action repeats, then copy and paste the steps in the new location.  DO NOT refer back to the previous location.
       For example, at Alert, Site Area Emergency, and General Emergency our Dose Assessment procedure calls out a call down list of notifications.  This is listed out each time and includes a space to indicate the time of contact for each call.  Thus our SOP also becomes our record log for legal purposes.  It also lists out a review of dose limits and turn back values for field teams instead of referring to their procedure, which also has these values.
      In other words, if it is worth mentioning, it is worth putting in all of it.

3. I have found that an outline format is easier for people  to follow than a narrative in paragraph form.

4.  Writing an SOP  this way does two things, it reminds you of the steps to follow even if you haven't done them in a year or so.  AND it lets a reasonably competent replacement function in case you aren't functional.

5.  EVERY TIME the SOP is used, for real or for a drill, evaluate it.  Make changes if a rough spot is discovered,  or if someone  misinterprets what a particular step means.  

6.  A Title, page number ___ of ____ ,  printing date, and Revision number should be on every page in the header.  Destroy all old copies unless you have a specific reference collection (recommended in reference to 5 above.)  A revision number that incorporates the date of the revision is handy  (2001.01.30), but does not replace the date of the printing.

Any other comments?  I know this isn't all of them.

Zack Clayton
Ohio EPA - DERR
email:  zack.clayton@epa.state.oh.us
voice:  614-644-3066
fax:       614-460-8249
icq:       105931792

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