Standard operating procedure: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:01, 3 March 2022

Revision as of 17:44, 3 March 2022

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The [[military]] (e.g. in the U.S. and UK) sometimes uses the term '''standing''' (rather than ''standard'') '''operating procedure''' because a military SOP refers to a unit's unique procedures, which are not necessarily standard to another unit. The word "standard" can imply that only one (standard) procedure is to be used across all units.

Standard Operating Procedures are also required by a [[Process Safety Management]] program for operating processes with hazardous conditions. Such SOPs contain the tasks to be performed for startup, full-production, shutdown, and emergency oeprations. SOPs also contain data to be recorded, allowable limits of critical variables, samples to be collected, what to do when an upset condition occurs, what alarms and instruments are pertinent if an upset condition occurs, etc. [[Operating procedure synthesis]] methods can assist the development of SOPs for the startup and shutdown of process plants.

The term can also be used facetiously to refer to practices that are unconstructive, yet the norm. In the Philippines, for instance, "SOP" is the term for pervasive corruption within the government and its institutions.<ref>https://www.google.com/books/edition/In_Pursuit_of_Progress/wFkEEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=sop%20%22operating%20procedure%22</ref><ref>https://anticorruptiondigest.com/2016/11/24/philippines-sop-corruption-in-police/</ref>