Standardization of Operating Procedures
The Solution
The situation provided an opportunity to describe current client control procedures and create a flexible and updatable solution that conforms to international documentation standards. Our team created a template for standard operating procedures (SOPs) that met the client’s requirements. It included a consistent numeric outline system to uniquely identify individual steps, a process flowchart to help find relevant sections of the procedure quickly, and elements that conform to ISO 9000 standards. The SOPs created were distributed to personnel in a non-editable form, such as PDF files, and are managed through the ProjectWise project management system at the client location. DPI observed the control operations for the three transit modes controlled from the Combined Control Center and wrote SOPs working with client managers and the client’s training department. This ensured that training and operations were working in concert, saving training time, and increasing operational efficiency and transit safety.
The Benefit
The updated procedures improved the client’s training, operation, and safety, thus allowing the training department to focus its efforts on the practical application of transit control. The updated procedures allowed training to match the activities of operators and the control room, increasing the training’s effectiveness and limiting the need for further on-the-job training. Another benefit was having information available for audits. The ISO 9000 elements provided a mechanism to review the SOPs on a timely basis, list who reviewed it, and indicate when it was necessary to update it.
