Can I Use a Template for My Propane Company's Policies and Procedures Manual?

What a template gives you

A template gives you a list of topics and blank space. That is a real head start if you have time to fill it in. What it cannot supply is the part that makes the book yours: your truck types, your fill steps, your plant layout, who does what, and who to call.

The test: does the book match the work?

Read your current manual, or the template you found, next to how a driver worked yesterday. Ask:

• Does the delivery procedure match the steps your drivers really follow, on your trucks?
• Are the names, titles and phone numbers in the emergency section current?
• Does the training section say what you actually require, and where you keep the records?
• Does the recordkeeping section say what you keep, where it lives and how long you hold it?

If the honest answer to any of these is "no," the book describes a company you are not. That gap is the problem, whether the book came from a template or from a binder somebody built years ago.

What the manual should cover

A propane policies and procedures manual normally covers:

• Company safety policy, and who owns it by name and title
• Delivery procedures: bobtail pre-trip, placarding, fill procedures, and what a driver does when something goes wrong
• Plant and bulk storage procedures
• Service and installation procedures
• Employee training requirements and how you document them
• Emergency procedures, leak response and the call list
• Recordkeeping

The question of what belongs in it, section by section, is on What belongs in a propane policies and procedures manual.

Who may review your manual?

Your team, an inspector, your insurer or a legal reviewer may compare the manual with your actual work. Check the rules that apply to your operation and the editions adopted in your state. Ask the relevant authority or a qualified reviewer about any uncertainty.

Straight answers

Does a template match how my company actually works? Only if you fill it in against how your drivers really work. A template gives you topics and blank space. It cannot supply your truck types, your fill steps, your plant layout, who does what, and who to call.

What are our manuals built on? 49 CFR, OSHA 29 CFR 1910 and NFPA 58, with a table of the code editions your state has adopted.

How do we get ours? You fill out one intake form, about an hour. We build the book from it, usually within a week of the completed form, print-ready.

Whether you need a written manual at all is answered on Does a propane company need written policies and procedures?.

Want ours written to your operation?

See the Policies & Procedures manual, or call 610-228-0887 and ask for Bill.

Book a 30-minute demo   It costs nothing, and you leave with a plain answer.