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Get your own copy

• On a phone or computer: make your own copy in Google Docs. It opens a fresh, editable copy in your own Google Drive.
• No Google account? Download it for Word and open it in Word or any word processor.
• On paper: print this page or save it as a PDF and write it by hand with the person who does the job best.

Make one copy per process. Name the file after the process, not after the person who runs it today.

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One process, one page, written for the person doing the work

The blank behind Document Your Business: Writing SOPs People Actually Use. That page tells you which process to write first and how to get it used. This is the page you write it on.

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Who this is for. Owners and managers who want a process done the same way no matter who is on the truck or at the desk. Write it with the person in your shop who does the job best.

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Reviewed October 2026. OSHA standards change, and some states run their own plans. Confirm with your state agency or a safety advisor before you rely on this list.

When not to use this template. Some safety programs have to be written, and OSHA spells out what goes in them. Those will not fit on one page, so do not build them here:

• Respiratory protection, if anyone on your crew wears a respirator: 29 CFR 1910.134(c)(1)
• Hazard communication, if you bring chemicals onto a job: 29 CFR 1910.1200(e)
• Bloodborne pathogens exposure control plan, if you run trauma or biohazard work: 29 CFR 1910.1030(c)
• Permit-required confined spaces, if a crew enters one on a construction job: 29 CFR 1926 Subpart AA, written program at 1926.1203(d)
• Silica exposure control plan, if you cut, grind or drill concrete, masonry or tile: 29 CFR 1926.1153(g)

Build those from the standard with your safety advisor. The OSHA Programs a Restoration Shop Actually Needs shows which ones your work triggers. A one-page SOP can still remind a crew what order to do things in. It cannot stand in for the program.

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• 📑 Jump to a section

The eight parts

Every standard operating procedure (SOP) in the shop uses the same eight parts in the same order, so anyone who has read one can find their way around the next.

1. Why this exists. One sentence on the result the process protects. If you cannot write it in one sentence, you are describing two processes.
2. Who runs it, and when it starts. Name the seat, not the person. Name the event that starts it and the event that ends it, and make the end something another person could check.
3. What you need before you start. Tools, forms, logins and anything that has to already be true.
4. The steps. One action per line, written as something a person does. "The tech photographs every affected room before extraction" beats "documentation should be performed." If a step contains a decision, the rule goes in the step.
5. Stop rules. The conditions where the person stops and calls someone before going further, with the seat they call.
6. What done right looks like. The photo, signature, record or entry that proves it happened, and where it is saved.
7. Common mistakes. The shortcut people take on a busy day, and what it costs the job.
8. Related. The checklists, forms and other SOPs this one hands off to.

Under the eight parts sit two tables: a sign-off table for everyone trained on this version, and a change history.

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Keep every old version. Date and number each version, and never overwrite the last one. If a job is ever questioned, the version that matters is the one that was in force on the day of the job, not the one in the binder today.

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