Reading and following a written procedure accurately
For anyone who carries out tasks from a written procedure, checklist or work instruction: warehouse, production and field staff, office and finance teams, service desk and lab technicians, and new starters learning a role. No prerequisites. You'll check before starting that a procedure is current and that its conditions, tools and precautions are met; recognise slips, lapses, mistakes and violations, the human failures procedures are meant to prevent; keep your place through interruptions; read warnings and conditional steps correctly; and stop and report when a procedure can't be followed as written. The course draws on UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) human factors guidance as its main public source, so it uses UK examples; the principles apply anywhere, but your site's own procedures, permits and local law always come first. This course is general awareness training: it doesn't grant a licence, a qualification or authorisation to do any specific task, and it isn't legal advice. Ends with a supervisor-observed procedure run with a planned interruption.
- Level
- Beginner
- Length
- About 75 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Check before starting that a procedure is the current version, fits your task, and that its initial conditions, tools and precautions are met
- Identify slips, lapses, mistakes and violations as the human failures a procedure is meant to prevent
- Follow a multi-step procedure with place-keeping so that interruptions don't cause skipped or repeated steps
- Read warnings, cautions and conditional steps correctly and act on them at the right point
- Stop and report when a procedure can't be followed as written, instead of improvising a workaround
Course outline
- 1.Check before starting that a procedure is current, fits your task, and its conditions, tools and precautions are metLesson · 13 min
- 2.Identify slips, lapses, mistakes and violations: the human failures a procedure is meant to preventLesson · 12 min
- 3.Follow a multi-step procedure with place-keeping so that interruptions don't cause skipped or repeated stepsLesson · 13 min
- 4.Read warnings, cautions and conditional steps correctly and act on them at the right pointLesson · 12 min
- 5.Stop and report when a procedure can't be followed as writtenLesson · 12 min
- 6.Reading and following a written procedure accurately: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 14 questions
- 7.Reading and following a written procedure accurately: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
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