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The previous article dealt with the general structure of documents
and arrangement of its component parts. It is possible to be more particular
about specific types of documents and this, writing procedures, is
one.
If you ask for directions to the railway station, the nearest bus stop,
a hospital, or a particular hotel you might be instructed somewhat
in this fashion. 'Go south on Main Street. Turn right at the next set
of lights. Walk for two blocks and turn right. That will put you at
the main entrance.'
If the directions given are correct and you do as instructed, you will
reach your intended destination. You will have followed a given procedure
and will, no doubt, be satisfied that the instruction given was clear
and easy to understand. You will have done as you were told and will
be happy with the result. Most people seeking direction are content
to do as they're told and do not thank the teller for being anything
more than frank and straightforward in the instructions given. An instruction
is a directive. A procedure is a directive.
Rereading the directions given in the preceding passage, thoughtful
readers will be struck by the emphasis on its 'action words'. Such
readers will note too that every policy, every procedure, and 'how
to' are series of directives.
If the policy manual of a corporation says, 'Provided that other qualifications
are equal, it is the policy of the Corporation to give equal opportunity
of employment to applicants regardless of race, creed or sex,' that's
a directive - don't discriminate; if the heading on a work procedure
is 'Use of portable ground fault isolator tool,' it's a directive -
use this tool this way; a paper on Human Performance Evaluation is
a directive - emulate what's good here; avoid the same mistakes.
This point about directives is made only to show how 'active' procedures
are in fact and intent. If and when you are assigned to write a procedure,
ask yourself 'What directives will this document give, directly or
indirectly?' Once you distill the directives out, you know you have
an 'action' document to write. So, write it with action. Verbs. Verbs.
Verbs. Don't be deterred if other people's writing is dull or convoluted,
either now or in the past.
Everyone emphasizes good communication these days. It's the 'in thing'
so to speak, so be imaginative and simple and plain spoken and don't
emulate the bad writing of the past just because it's in print. There's
nothing sacred about print.
By definition, a procedure as used in business and commerce is a 'method',
'plan', 'way', 'manner', 'form', 'a way of working', 'a course of action'.
In short, it describes the way work is done and is, therefore, closely
related to quality assurance.
Use of the term 'quality assurance' is well established in the health
care industry, nuclear power generation, aerospace, the petrochemical
and defence industries. It concerns the way an organization functions
and is expressed in a tangible form in a quality assurance programme.
'Procedures' form part of quality control, which is part of a quality
assurance programme.
Procedures are to quality control what a management organization is
to a quality assurance programme. Increasing use is being made of written
procedures to make sure that process control operations and the way
work is done are consistent, no matter who performs the work. There
is good reason for having written procedures.
WHY WRITTEN PROCEDURES? Commonsense dictates that if design changes are made in a large design
organization it is necessary to make sure that everyone involved knows
about them. Managers and designers must be consulted on the matters
for which they are responsible. What can be agreed, accepted and carried
out in a two-person operation becomes more complicated in a larger
enterprise. Procedures properly followed guarantee that objective evidence
exists to prove that what a worker, technologist or laboratory assistant
said was done was done.
If, for example, you saw a welder weld a certain joint last week and
told someone else, you might be believed and you might not. That is
not evidence, but informed opinion about the time, place and occurrence
of the welded joint. If, however, you produced a signed and dated record
of the weld, verified with a dated signature of the welder's foreman
and also signed and stamped by an inspector, you would have evidence
that the weld was done.
If the welder used a certain procedure, the written evidence will be
proof enough. The written record will be as good in ten years time
as it is ten minutes after the event. This is what is called objective
evidence. Moreover, it is known who did the weld, who verified it,
and who inspected it.
Similarly, if a security guard writes an incident report, or a nurse
provides a patient with specified medication, objective evidence is
available. The incident and record reports that provide the evidence
required in well-written programmes are defined in the relevant procedure.
It is the procedure that governs what will be done and how and what
records must be kept. In the same way that there are elements common
to technical reports, the elements of structure are common to all well-produced
procedures and are: 1. COVER SHEET
The cover sheet should include the procedure title, date, revision
number, designation, issuing authority, distribution, author, and
the signature of the person who approves the document. The revision
number and date are an important feature of procedures because the
procedures are subject to review and are re-written to meet changed
circumstances.
Some organizations, such as hospitals, railway and nuclear maintenance
departments work with published policies and procedures, which dispenses
with the need for a cover sheet. They rely instead on the first sheet
of the document to provide the information that would appear on the
front sheet.
2. CONTENTS 3. INTRODUCTION 4. POLICY 5. RESPONSIBILITIES
A statement of who is responsible for what is basic to any well-run
organization. Responsibilities are best stated in point form. In
its procedure for the inspection of incoming material, a valve manufacturer
assigned incoming inspection to the floor inspectors.
Floor inspectors, the procedure stated, will check material received
against a copy of the purchase order as to quantity, description and
sign the carrier's slip only when the shipping information is correct
and the shipment is free from apparent physical damage. Consign incoming
goods and material to the incoming inspection area. 6. WORK PROCESS
The range and complexity of work is so extensive that those who write
procedures need to find their own suitable heading to describe the
actual work process. It may be necessary to describe what preparatory
work must be done for certain operations: the isolation of circuitry,
the issue of written permission to work on certain equipment, the
tools and materials needed, precautionary and safety measures to
be taken, proving tests to be conducted, the radiation protection
required, the sequence to be followed, and the drawings necessary
to do the work.
If you have followed the same course as that advocated for writing
a technical report, done the research and written an outline, the sub-divisions
of the work process will be known to you. As a result, the actual writing
will take a fraction of the time needed with inadequate preparation.
7. RECORDS 8. REFERENCES 9. APPENDICES |
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