Just recently, the Safety 1st team set out on a mission: to complete a procedure manual. Wow! Who ever thought writing a procedure manual could be so difficult?? You never really appreciate the work you do on a day-to-day basis until you have to write it on paper! After about 6 months, we can honestly say – if the Safety 1st team won the lottery and didn’t show up to work the next day, someone could step in and do our job. Not that anyone wants to feel that they are that easily replaceable!
I started thinking about our members – could you say the same thing about your staff? If everyone at your facility won the lottery, could you hire a new staff and have them start working the same day? Can you pick up your procedure manual and explain to new hires how to do the job they were hired to do?
I was trying not to plug one of our products/services during this blog, but I just can’t help it. The Safety 1st Ground Audit Standard. The standard was established by industry experts to create a consistent operational safety standard for FBOs, airports, and other facilities while increasing the overall safety level of these operations. One of the main aspects of the standard is not just proving that you do a great job, but documenting how you do that great job. The standard won’t necessarily help you write your manual and SOPs, but it will help you organize your thoughts and give you a starting point – it also gives you a goal to get them done!
This might seem very overwhelming and it can be, but going into the process knowing that you won’t get it done in a week is key. I’m sure you have quite a bit of “common knowledge” available from your employees that have worked there for years – these are the people you need to tap before they win that dreaded lottery. As I mentioned at first – this process will take time and it will take a lot of effort but once it’s done you WILL be immensely proud! Trust me, I know.
Happy writing!
By Elizabeth Nicholson, NATA Safety 1st Program Manager
For information about the NATA Safety 1st Ground Audit Program, please click here.
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