The difference in General Orders & SOP's

[JJordan]

I have noticed some dept.'s have General Orders that are seperate from their SOP's.

What makes a General order different from an SOP?

What structure does your dept follow?

[ADSN/WFLD]

It all depends on what definition your department uses, but a general breakdown is as follows.

Rules and Regulations: Regulates the way the business side of your department operates. ie: sick time policies, FD organization, rules from your board of commissioners on hiring , firing, promotion. It is the law of your department and can't be changed without the board of trustee's approval.

General Orders: Written direct orders by the chief or other person in authority. ie "After the recent UL testing the Ladder on truck 2 will not be used until repairs can be made." The general order may, at a later time, be added to the SOPs or it could be just for a short period of time.

Standard Operating Procedures: Procedures that your department wants you to do, usually without modification. ie: "when conducting a primary search the initial company will proceed to the left, additional companies will conduct their search to the right." You would need a VERY good reason to vary from the SOP, not just because.

Standard Operating Guideline: A guide to help your thinking process, when other information doesn't dictate different actions. ie: "Fires shall be attacked from the unburnt side of the structure." The guideline should be followed unless conditions dictate another course of action.

Words like Always, Never, Shall should not be found in SOG's but may be appropriate in the Rules And Regs.

I hope that helped, Stay Safe