Difference between SOPs vs Work Instructions vs Procedures

Introduction:
How can you tell if a document is a SOP, Procedure, or Work Instruction? Also, what are
the connections between each of these documents? Is one more important than the other?
Do you need to write an SOP before the Work Instruction… or should it be the other way
round?
In this tutorial, we look at:
 How to document SOPs, Work Instructions and Procedures
 How to structure the documents in the correct sequence
Difference between Work Instructions and Procedures
Work Instructions – tell you how to do something. They are very specific instructions,
for example, how to complete a form.
Procedures – tell you who does what when. In other words, it identifies who completes
the form and when this should occur.
In simple terms:
 Procedures tell you Who, What and When
 Work Instructions tell you How
SOP, Work Instruction, & Procedures: How to structure
If you look at the documents like a pyramid, then
 Standard Operating Procedures are the top layer. These are often shared with
customer and rarely hold confidential data.
 Procedures (second tier) describe the process. They are more detailed and often
contain both a narrative (i.e. text description of the steps) and visuals, usually in the
form of use cases and workflow diagrams. These documents will be examined during
audits.
 Work instructions (third tier) describe the work to be performed. These provide
the lowest possible level of detail. As the name implies they are instructions to
perform a specific piece of work. Some are less than one page. Just a list of bullet
points.

Page 1 of 2 OPEOLUWA, Adeyemi Oluwole—UNIDO National Expert ISO/IEC 17025:2005

ISO: Documenting SOPs, Work Instructions, & Procedures (as in the case of
17025:2005)
If you’re documenting ISO processes, then you can approach them based on levels.
Again, this is similar to the idea of a pyramid or tiered structure.
 Level 1 = Quality Assurance Manual – these are mandatory documents for ISO and
must be maintained as the project evolves. This is the starting point for document-
related goals, objectives and accountability.
 Level 2 = Procedures – Document interaction between departments/business units in
terms of input/outputs.
 Level 3 = Work Instructions – Any document that defines how work objectives are
achieved.
 Level 4 = Records – evidence of conformance.
To be clear: Level 3 documents are sometimes referred to as SOPs, Process Instructions,
or Procedures.
Does it make a difference? Yes there are differences
In this wise: yes, in that if you cut; modify and change terminology, you will confuse the
readers (and possibly the writers) and also raise concerns with the auditors (like me); on
the other hand, no, if you use a consistent document convention and apply the same
guidelines across all documents.
In other words, if ISO did not exist, would you still use the same document naming
conventions?
To recap:
 Work Instructions are 3rd level documents
 Procedures are 2nd level documents and
 Quality Manual is the 1st level document

References:

http://www.klariti.com/technical-writing/2014/05/31/sop-work-instructions-
procedures/
Opeoluwa, Adeyemi Oluwole. Insights to proper procedures in the Laboratory:
Lagos, 2017.
https://www.globalcompliancepanel.com/control/sop-and-work-instructions
https://www.therqa.com/forum/thread/75/

Page 2 of 2 OPEOLUWA, Adeyemi Oluwole—UNIDO National Expert ISO/IEC 17025:2005