Standard Operating Policies

Standard operating policies communicate high-level rules of business conduct.

Standard operating policies are formal statements communicating general rules and principles by which a company does business. Such policies further provide high-level direction for developing detailed work procedures to effect compliance with established rules and principles.

Purpose

A standard operating policy statement specifies a business rule or objective to be satisfied. For example, "To establish a personnel evacuation plan in case of fire or other emergency, in keeping with OSHA requirements."

Scope

A standard operating policy statement identifies those individuals to whom compliance with a business rule or objective applies. For example, "All employees, contractors and guests."

Responsibility

A standard operating policy statement identifies general responsibilities of those individuals to whom compliance with a business rule or objective applies. For example, "Following alarm or other notification, employees, contractors and guests will exit company facilities in keeping with the provisions and procedures specified in the emergency evacuation plan."

Structure

A standard operating policy statement serves as introduction to a procedure written to effect compliance with a business rule or principle. For this reason, there should never be a standard operating policy disseminated for which a procedure has not been written, nor a procedure written for which a governing standard operating policy does not exist.

References

• "Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications"; Microsoft Corporation; 2004
• "Guide to to Writing Policy and Procedure Documents"; UC Santa Cruz; 1994