From Operating Philosophy to Working Procedures: A Practical Workshop (Online / Remote)
1Summary
Every facility has an operating philosophy somewhere in its design documentation, but turning that philosophy into procedures that operators can pick up and use on shift is a distinct skill of its own. This hands-on workshop walks participants through that translation process: converting operating intent, risk information, and technical requirements into standardised, controlled Operational Procedures for startup, commissioning, and routine operations.
Part of the Operations Readiness and Assurance Training courses specialisation and the Engineering maintenance and operation category at Arab British Fellowship Training Academy, the workshop covers procedure structure, documentation, startup manuals, field validation, and the controls needed to keep procedures accurate, safe, and usable over time.
2Objectives and target group
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Translate an operating philosophy and technical design intent into practical, usable procedures.
- Understand the lifecycle and governance of Operational Procedures, and the roles involved in developing them.
- Structure procedures and documentation across startup, commissioning, and routine operations.
- Apply risk-based thinking to identify hazards, controls, and performance requirements within procedures.
- Develop startup manuals and operating instructions that reflect actual system and equipment sequencing.
- Integrate safety, environmental, maintenance, and operational requirements into a single, coherent procedure set.
- Validate procedures through field walkthroughs, simulations, and scenario-based verification.
- Establish review, approval, and document-control processes to manage revisions and supersession.
- Identify gaps, inconsistencies, and usability issues within existing operational procedures.
- Improve operational readiness through accurate, controlled, and continuously improved documentation.
Who Should Attend
- Document control and technical documentation personnel.
- Operations and production engineers.
- Operations supervisors and managers.
- Commissioning and startup personnel.
- Operations readiness teams.
- Engineering and technical professionals.
- Maintenance and reliability professionals.
- Process and facility engineers.
- HSE professionals involved in procedure development.
- Project and operational assurance teams.
3Course Content
Module 1: From Design Intent to Working Procedure
- Definition and purpose of Operational Procedures.
- Relationship between procedures and operational readiness.
- Procedure lifecycle, governance and types.
Module 2: Reading and Translating the Operating Philosophy
- Understanding the operating philosophy and design intent.
- Identifying operating modes and conditions.
- Defining operational boundaries, controls and technical linkages.
Module 3: Writing the Procedure
- Procedure structure and standard formats.
- Writing clear, actionable operating instructions.
- Sequencing activities, prerequisites, actions and acceptance criteria.
- Incorporating safety precautions and operating limits.
Module 4: Startup Manuals and Commissioning Procedures
- Developing startup manuals and pre-startup/commissioning procedures.
- System and equipment startup sequences.
- Normal, abnormal, shutdown and emergency operating conditions.
- Handover from project to operations.
Module 5: Risk and Safety in Procedure Design
- Risk assessment and hazard identification in procedure development.
- Permit-to-work and isolation requirements.
- Safety-critical procedures, emergency response and compliance checks.
Module 6: Field-Testing the Procedure
- Reviewing procedures with operations personnel and walkthroughs.
- Identifying gaps between procedures and field conditions.
- Human factors, usability, and simulation-based verification.
- Corrective actions and final approval.
Module 7: Documentation and Document Control
- Managing operational documentation and revision control.
- Approval and authorisation workflows.
- Maintaining consistency and controlling obsolete documentation.
Module 8: Keeping Procedures Alive, Continuous Improvement
- Monitoring procedure effectiveness and gathering operator feedback.
- Managing lessons learned and periodic reviews.
- Updating documentation after modifications.