Attention, Policies and Procedures people!

[Jennifer Blair <jblair -at- CREO -dot- BC -dot- CA>]

     May I have your two cents" worth? I am a contractor working for a
     large utility company. We are conducting a research project on how
     companies manage the creation, development, distribution, and
     acceptance of all operating standards which govern the work done by
     employees, especially safety and environmental standards. I am
     interested in utilities of course, but also other companies whose
     operations are geographically and organizationally dispersed.

     If you have only two minutes, please answer the following quick
     multiple choice questions, and if you have the time and inclination to
     elaborate in the second set of questions, I would very much appreciate
     your input.

     *Note: If you are a contractor, please choose the most progressive
     company you've worked with and think of that as "your organization".

     *Also: Please list as much information about your company as you are
     at liberty to give, e.g. kind of company, location, number of
     employees, etc.

     Thanks very much, and watch this space for a summary report of this
     survey!

     Five quick questions:

     1. Who writes the standards at your organization?
     A. HQ
     B. Regional staff (local managers) or
     C. Field staff
     D. A combination of the above

     2. How much input is there from field staff in the development of
     standards?
     A. None
     B. Some
     C. A lot

     3. Are environmental standards at your organization integrated with
     Standard Operating Orders and Local Operating Orders, i.e. corporate
     policies integrated with locally and/or task-specific ones?
     A. No
     B. Somewhat
     C. Yes

     4. What is the general state of your standards info?
     A. Mostly incomplete and out of date
     B. In between
     C. Accurate and current

     5. Are any electronic systems in place at your organization for
     accessing standards information?
     A. Yes. (Please name software, systems used)
     B. No.
     C. In development- (Please name software, systems under consideration)

     Thanks for your time.


     Six not-so-quick questions:

     1. How does your organization make standards job-specific without
     having to write multiple variations of the same standards?


     2. Who writes the standards at your organization, the people who set
     them, or the people who use them?

     3. What are your organization's strategies for creating, distributing,
     and creating acceptance of standards?

     4. Does your organization have a published list of safety and
     environmental standards documentation?

     5. What new technologies, if any, are being used by your organization
     to create and access information, e.g. Lotus Notes, Calyx, Folio,
     BookManager, Hyperties, etc..?

     6. If any of the above have been used in your organization, what was
     the perceived effectiveness?