standing operating procedure
- noun
- Formal
:
procedimiento operativo estándar
- The hospital has a detailed standing operating procedure for handling emergencies.
Examples
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All employees are required to follow the standing operating procedure for equipment maintenance.
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Please follow the standing operating procedures outlined in the manual.
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Before every meeting, the manager reviews the standing operating procedure with the team.
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The company has a clear standing operating procedure for safety.
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All employees are required to follow the standing operating procedure for equipment maintenance.
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The hospital has a detailed standing operating procedure for handling emergencies.
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Please follow the standing operating procedure outlined in the manual.
Synonyms
37
3.1
A usual way of doing something that people follow in a situation
15
3.4
A list of steps to use a machine or to deal with a specific situation safely
12
4.3
A set of steps people follow the same way every time to do a task safely and correctly
7
4.7
A set of steps people regularly follow at work
How Routine
Surface Forms
Morphology
standing + operating + procedure
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'standing' (established/permanent) + 'operating' (in operation) + 'procedure' (ordered steps), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer it refers to an established routine method. The adjective–noun composition is non-idiomatic and cross-linguistically common, making the phrase immediately comprehensible without prior exposure.
Etymology
Standing operating procedure comes from the image of a plan that 'stands' ready to be used: a clear set of steps that will do the work. The word standing shows it is always in place, operating means working, and procedure means the steps, so it refers to a routine method 'to be followed regularly' by an organization.