Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are step-by-step instructions to help workers carry out routine and complex operations
while maintaining quality and consistency.

The keyword is “STANDARD”, to ensure the standardization of the process for everyone in the laboratory with no variances or ambiguities.  Standard Operating Procedures can be both material specific, process/experiment specific, or both. SOPs can also be safety specific or they can incorporate safety practices and procedures along with general steps required to conduct an experiment or to handle a piece of equipment.

SOPs must be specific, clear, concise, and without ambiguity. They need to be written in a way where everyone in the laboratory performs the exact same steps in the exact same way. SOPs should also include the process for safely starting and stopping equipment and procedures in case of an emergency. VCU Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) have an SOP library and templates that can be used by the research community and EHS-OHS staff is available for consultations.