From a blog by Paul Baur, Professional Services Consultant at Skyward.
As Skyward has written about before, the most efficient drone programs are usually the safest. For both efficiency and safety, Standard Operating Procedures, or SOPs, are essential. They guide the way operations are planned in the office and conducted in the field. They promote safety, compliance, and consistency across a whole program.
Let’s take a quick look at standard operating procedures — and how Skyward makes implementing them easier with our Take Flight package.
What should a drone program’s standard operating procedures include?
I already gave a few reasons why standard operating procedures matter. They’re especially important to larger enterprises who might have fleets of drones distributed nationally or even internationally, or may be performing higher-risk operations.
Without standards for your program, you risk breaking regulations, which could lead to legal trouble and ultimately shut down your program. On the other hand, by following operating standards, crews can produce very consistent results and even improve net safety in many cases.
So what should go into your standard operating procedures? At a minimum, they should include policies and resources for:
Drone Management
Crew Operations
Training Handbook
Maintenance Procedures
Emergency Procedures
You’ll want to have detailed, comprehensive policies in each of these areas. This is your source of truth for your drone operations. It should cover the majority of questions your crews could ask in the office or the field.
For the complete article CLICK HERE.
