Operations manual

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
The operations manual is the documentation by which an organisation provides
guidance for members and employees to perform their functions correctly and
reasonably efficiently.[1] It documents the approved standard procedures for
performing operations safely to produce goods and provide services.[2] Compliance
with the operations manual will generally be considered as activity approved by the
persons legally responsible for the organisation.[3]
The operations manual is intended to remind employees of how to do their job. The
manual is either a book or folder of printed documents containing the standard
operating procedures, a description of the organisational hierarchy, contact details
for key personnel and emergency procedures. It does not substitute for training, but
should be sufficient to allow a trained and competent person to adapt to the
organisation's specific procedures.[4]
The operations manual helps the members of the organisation to reliably and
efficiently carry out their tasks with consistent results. A good manual will
reduce human error and inform everyone precisely what they need to do, who they
are responsible to and who they are responsible for. It is a knowledge base for the
organisation, and should be available for reference whenever needed. The
operations manual is a document that should be periodically reviewed and updated
whenever appropriate to ensure that it remains current.[4]

Contents

• 1Format
• 2Contents
o 2.1Organogram
o 2.2Job descriptions
o 2.3Contact details
o 2.4Documented processes
o 2.5Occupational health and safety instructions
o 2.6Emergency procedures
o 2.7Policies
• 3Annexures and references
• 4Revision, updates and distribution
• 5Specific requirements in industry
o 5.1Commercial diving
o 5.2Commercial airlines
• 6References

Format[edit]
The operations manual can be a digital or paper document. Digital format has
advantages for revision control and can be distributed easily and at low cost.[4] The
detail should be sufficient to allow a competent person without specific experience to
understand what is needed and how it is to be done. It is not a training manual, too
much or too little detail can make it inefficient.[5]

Contents[edit]
Content will vary depending on the organisation, but some basic structure is fairly
universal.[1] Typical sections include:[4][1][5]

• Organisational hierarchy
• Job descriptions
• Contact details
• Documented processes and systems
• Occupational health and safety instructions
• Emergency procedures
• Company History
• Products & Services
• Policies and position statements
There are two basic categories of information: Information that is relevant to all
people in the organisation, and often also to clients and the general public, and
information that is relevant to specific positions.[1]
There may be statutory or regulatory requirements for specific content. In some
cases the CEO may be required to authorise the operations manual by signature,
and this authorisation may be required to be present in the document. A version
number and date of commencement may be required, and it may be a controlled
document.[3]
Organogram[edit]
Main article: Organizational chart
The organisational hierarchy is commonly and effectively described by
an organisational chart, or organogram, a diagram that shows the structure of an
organization and the relationships and relative ranks of its sections and members
which gives the reader an easily understood picture of where key people fit into the
organisation.[4]
Job descriptions[edit]
Main article: Job description
A job description is a document that describes the general tasks, duties, and
responsibilities of a position, and may specify the functionary to whom the position
reports, specifications such as the competence, qualifications, registration,
certification or skills needed by the person in the job, and a salary range. Formal job
descriptions help people understand their roles within the organisation and identify
each other's responsibilities.[5]
Contact details[edit]
These include names and contact details for key persons within the organisation and
important external contacts.[5]
Documented processes[edit]
See also: Standard operating procedure
Occupational health and safety instructions[edit]
• Risk assessments and risk management policies
Emergency procedures[edit]
Any emergency procedure that would be the standard response to a reasonably
foreseeable emergency in the normal course of business would be detailed in the
operations manual as a reference. There might also be specifications on how
frequently exercises should be held. Some frequently encountered emergency
procedures include:

• Evacuation plans
• Fire drills
• Response to release of hazardous materials
• Disaster recovery plan. How to re-establish
operations following an unexpected catastrophic
event.[5]
Policies[edit]
A policy is a deliberate system of principles to guide decisions and achieve rational
outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent, and is implemented as a procedure or
protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an
organization. Policies can assist in both subjective and objective decision making.
Policies to assist in subjective decision making usually assist senior management
with decisions that must be based on the relative merits of a number of factors, and
as a result are often hard to test objectively, e.g. work-life balance policy. In contrast
policies to assist in objective decision making are usually operational in nature and
can be objectively tested, e.g. password policy.

This section is empty. You can

help by adding to it. (April 2018)

Annexures and references[edit]

Manuals that already exist for equipment or procedures may be incorporated into an
operations manual as annexures, or referenced if they are not of general utility, so
they can be found when needed and checked for continued validity when the
operations manual is revised.[5]

Revision, updates and distribution[edit]

If an operations manual is to be useful it must be distributed to the people who will
use it, and they should have the current version. Distribution and updating policies
and procedures are also commonly part of the content of the manual.[1]

Specific requirements in industry[edit]

Commercial diving[edit]
In South Africa a diving contractor is obliged in terms of Regulation 21 of the Diving
Regulations 2009 to provide an operations manual and make it available on site to
the dive team before a diving operation may commence. This manual must contain
prescribed types of information relating to health and safety, as specified in the
codes of practice relating to the planned diving operations.[3] The Code of Practice for
Inshore Diving requires the contractor to base the planning and implementation of
diving operations on specific documents which include the operations manual. [6]
The operations manual is considered an essential administrative risk control
measure, and must be compiled by the contractor in consultation with
representatives of the employees and the company's contracted diving medical
practitioner. Members of the diving team are required to comply with the health and
safety requirements imposed on them by the operations manual. Among other things
that must be specified in the operations manual are the decompression tables or
algorithms authorised for use by the dive teams, the quantities of breathing gas that
must be available on site, based on the dive profile and equipment to be used, clear
limits on the environmental hazards to which the divers may be exposed, and the
actions required of each member of the dive team in the event of an emergency
during operations.[6]
Similar requirements may apply to commercial diving contractors in other
jurisdictions. The IMCA Code of Practice for Offshore Diving also requires the
contractor to provide an operations manual for each diving system.[7]
Commercial airlines[edit]
• ICAO requirements.

References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e E-Myth Business Coach (14 October
2009). "Your Operations Manual". e-myth.com.
Retrieved 26 March 2018.
2. ^ "Definition of operations manual". Cambridge dictionary.
Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
3. ^ Jump up to:a b c "Diving Regulations 2009". Occupational
Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 – Regulations and
Notices – Government Notice R41. Pretoria: Government
Printer. Archived from the original on 2016-11-04.
Retrieved 3 November 2016 – via Southern African Legal
Information Institute.
4. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Mulholland, Ben (13 June
2017). "How to Create an Operations Manual for Your
Business (and Avoid Nuclear War)". Process Street.
Retrieved 26 March 2018.
5. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f MacNicoll, Tracy. "How to Write an
Operations Manual". Edward Lowe Foundation.
Retrieved 27 March 2018.
6. ^ Jump up to:a b Diving Advisory Board. Code Of Practice
Inshore Diving (PDF). Pretoria: The South African
Department of Labour. Archived from the
original (PDF) on 9 November 2016. Retrieved 16
September 2016.
7. ^ Staff (February 2014). "IMCA International Code of
Practice for Offshore Diving" (PDF). IMCA D 014 Rev. 2.
 London: International Marine Contractor's Association.
Retrieved 22 July 2016.[permanent dead link]

show

Occupational safety and health

show

Underwater diving
Categories:
• Technical communication
Navigation menu
• Not logged in
• Talk
• Contributions
• Create account
• Log in
• Article
• Talk
• Read
• Edit
• View history
Search
Search Go

• Main page
• Contents
• Current events
• Random article
• About Wikipedia
• Contact us
• Donate
Contribute
• Help
• Learn to edit
• Community portal
• Recent changes
• Upload file
Tools
• What links here
• Related changes
 • Special pages
• Permanent link
• Page information
• Cite this page
• Wikidata item
Print/export
• Download as PDF
• Printable version
Languages
Add links
• This page was last edited on 13 January 2021, at 22:03 (UTC).
• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0; additional terms may apply. By
using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
• Privacy policy

• About Wikipedia

• Disclaimers

• Contact Wikipedia

• Mobile view

• Developers

• Statistics

• Cookie statement