Policies and Procedures: Where Do I Start, Which Way Do I Go?

By Tom Rinaldi

I am very often asked, "Do you have a policy on such-and-such?" My answer is usually, "Yes, it’s on my fire district website," and the response is frequently a look of horror. You have your policies on your website? Why not, they are public documents and guess what, when you have all of your policies in the open there are usually no questions – they are transparent. Furthermore, when the public can see your policies they know that you have been doing something, even if it’s wrong.

One of the things I discovered in my own department is that over a given period of time, in our case 50-plus years, there is a blurring of policies, procedures, governance, SOGs, by-laws, and all the other written guidance documents. It requires a search effort to find that one sentence you need. We instituted a multi-year program to clear up the confusion and get all the important documents guiding either governance or operations into their proper perspective and scope. There are three basic sets of documents that should be separate and distinct.

Because we are a fire district, we have a set of by-laws pertaining to the operation and governance of the fire district. In a fire protection district or municipal department the by-laws would pertain to the operation or governance of the board of directors or trustees. The next document is a set of by-laws for the social body known as the fire company. Again, a set of by-laws would provide guidance for the operation and governance of the social body.

The board of fire commissioners or a board of directors should also have a set of by-laws for the same purpose, governance of the organization. By-laws are in effect a contract among the members and must be formally adopted and or amended by the members of the group.

The challenge is to strike a balance in the operation of the fire company without strangling it with too many rules and limitations, especially in a volunteer organization. The secret is to take the time to consider the outcome. If we enact this rule or regulation, what will the outcome be? Sometimes it’s a crapshoot; don’t get hung up on it. All by-laws should contain a clause that outlines how they can be changed. Don’t be afraid to make changes. By-laws should be reviewed at a minimum every two years and certainly updated whenever needed.

Finally, don’t reinvent the wheel – others have produced some good and tested documents. Good, bad, or indifferent, take a look at what others have done, keep the good, and disregard the bad. If necessary, there are attorneys out there who will assist you in writing a set of by-laws, but make sure you are getting good value. Weigh the cost against the product and make sure they do not tie a noose around your neck where you can’t breathe without the fear of being sued.

Then there are SOPs and SOGs – standard operating procedures and standard operating guidelines. Do you know the difference? It’s simple, and the test is in the analysis of incidents when things go wrong. A standard operating procedure lays out an exact process to follow to obtain a successful outcome, normally using the words "shall" or "must." When something goes awry, having left out one of the steps will cause someone to be held accountable for the steps not followed. A standard operating guideline is less confining, using the word "should" rather than "will." Understand that if you produce a standard operating procedure, you’d better stick to it and not deviate. If you use a standard operating guideline you should be close but it allows for reasonable deviation. The difference will be realized in a court of law as a result of an incident. "Shall" indicates a mandatory requirement and "should" indicates a recommendation that is advised but not required according to definitions in NFPA standards.

Now that we understand the difference, SOGs should relate to operational procedures followed by the members of the fire company in pursuit of their duties. The point here is that there should be no operational procedures in anyone’s by-laws; it’s the wrong place for them. I have broken down our department’s SOGs under functional headings – facilities, equipment and apparatus, personnel, operations, and training. Under those five headings are all of the SOGs that have been developed by the line officers or administrative officers, as appropriate. The SOGs are then reviewed and approved by the board of fire commissioners, not necessarily for operational content, but to insure that they are not in conflict with the board’s policies or procedures.

If the SOGs are intended to guide operational situations, what are by-laws and what should be in them? By-laws pertain to an organization or association and in the case of a fire district, the social organization, or fire company. In the case of a municipal fire department the by-laws would pertain to the social organization and for a fire protection district to the board of directors or trustees and the members of the organization. By-laws are the written rules for the conduct of the corporation, organization, or association. By-laws are not for incident operational guidance, they are to outline governance procedures in the operation of the organization, such conducting meetings, elections, filling vacancies, notices, types and duties of the officers, assessments, membership qualifications, officer qualifications, training requirements, and generally guidelines on the conduct of business of the organization.

The third and final set of documents you need to conduct business are policies. In the strict meaning a policy is a desired course of action, a guiding principle or a procedure considered expedient, prudent, or advantageous to achieve a desired goal. Polices set expectations. In many cases policies are written to solve a problem that has occurred or to provide guidance. You need to ask yourself, what is the goal of the policy that you are about to write and is a policy really needed? Are there procedures that need to accompany the policy? Most importantly, what are the penalties for not following the policy? The policy provides the "what" and the procedure provides the "how" to implement the policy correctly.

To develop a policy it takes input from all the stakeholders, just like any planning process. The stakeholders are those who are writing the policy, those who the policy is intended regulate, and those who will be enforcing the policy. Policies should be thought out by analyzing the intended consequences or expectations. If the process is faulty, the policy execution will be faulty and the intended results will not be achieved. Policies must be simple and direct. Don’t write the policy with a lot of twisted verbiage or logic. Tell the members who is to carry out the policy, how it operates, and what the expected results are.

A policy’s procedure has to contain everything your members need to know in order to perform the process to achieve success with consistency. You cannot leave out critical steps or information while developing procedures; if you write it wrong, it will be executed wrong.

Policies should be developed in draft, reviewed by the stakeholders, adjustments made, and then adopted formally by the governing body instituting the policy. Recognize that no process is perfect. Build in room for improvement, implement the policy and procedure, check it, improve it, and re-adopt it. Policy development and improvement is not a static process; policies should be reviewed and re-adopted at least annually. There is nothing worse than an outdated policy and procedure or one that is not working or relevant. If it doesn’t fit, change it. Just make sure you follow the process to include stakeholders and the formal adoption – there should be no one-man shows.

Adopt a common template for your policies. Normally, I start with the name of the organization, state that it is either a fire district or fire department policy and procedure, and number the policy followed by the year of development. I personally restart the policy number at the number one each year, or they can be consecutively numbered. There is no right or wrong way but you need to have some type of control number. The next item is to state the name of the policy, the original date issued, the effective date if different from the date issued or the date of adoption, the revised date if applicable, and the review date, which I set as January of each year.

The body of the policy contains the stated purpose of the policy, definitions of words or phrases if needed, then the components of the policy. State the procedures needed to comply with the policy, include penalties for not complying with the policy, and include any other information as applicable.

Finally, every policy should include a signature line "By order of the governing body," signed by the chairman of the board, president, chief elected official, etc. Be sure to number each page and include a date at the bottom of the page that will automatically update each time the policy is updated, changed, or saved so that you are always working with the latest edition.

I suggest that when changes are made to the policy, enter the changes in italics, bold, or underline or highlight to denote the most recent changes. You may also date the paragraphs that are updated so that there is an historical perspective with the updates. It’s also wise to prepare a table of contents so that policies don’t disappear or fall through the cracks during the annual updates. The table of contents is five columns and includes a number, the name of the policy and the number of the policy related to the year it was enacted (i.e. Policy #1 of 2014), the year enacted, the year last revised, and the year last reviewed to provide a quick reference.

I can assure you that I have read enough audit reports from the State Comptroller’s Office where one of the items on the list of recommendations is an absence of policies, especially a financial investment policy, ethics policy, credit card policy, election policy, meal expenditure policy, purchasing policy, electronic banking, travel expenses, LOSAP points and investment policy, and record retention policy. In the absence of these policies the cursory audit review is likely to turn into a full-scale audit. Other policies important these days include social media and electronic devices, physical exams and fitness for duty, driving apparatus, harassment and discrimination, drug and alcohol, license check, disciplinary procedures, firefighter orientation and training, duties of chief officers, use of facilities, smoking, use of SCBA, and workplace violence, among others.

Last but not least, if you have taken the time to develop written policies and procedures, take the time and interest to enforce them, and enforce them equally among all the members or staff. Nothing will tear an organization apart faster than inequality in the application and enforcement of written policies.

In review, it’s best not to blur the distinction between by-laws, polices, and SOGs. Policies and procedures are a road map to a desired outcome, SOGs provide operational guidance to the members – they point the best way to travel. By-laws are governance directive – they should provide direction on how we run our associations or organizations. Although all of the documents provide direction for our members, each reaches the destination of the desired result on a different path.

About the Author:
Tom Rinaldi is a 45-year member of the fire service, a past chief, and currently a third term commissioner with the Stillwater Fire District. He holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Niagara University and a certificate of fire science from Montgomery College. Rinaldi has served with volunteer and career departments in Maryland and New York. He is retired from the New York State Office of Emergency Management and is currently employed by Chazen Engineering as a code compliance inspector for the town of Malta at the GlobalFoundries semiconductor facility. Rinaldi is the 2nd vice president of the Association of Fire Districts of the State of New York, serving as the vice chairman of the Law & Legislative Committee and liaison to the New York State Codes Coalition, as well as other ad hoc committees. Rinaldi is also the immediate past president of the Capital Area Fire Districts Association and author of the weekly Capital Bulletin. He can be emailed here.