The systematic process to manage any change should follow the “Plan, Do, Check, Act” approach. This should start at the planning stage BEFORE:
- the change has been fully developed,
- continued and monitored during the change process and
- reviewed after it has been implemented.
This systematic approach applied to all changes to equipment, infrastructure, policy, or the organization must include:
- evaluation,
- risk assessment,
- approval,
- implementation, and
- documentation
The management system applied should always be proportional to the complexity and the scale of the change but MUST include the following essential elements:
- agree and evaluate the justification for the change at the appropriate management level;
- risk assess the proposed change using a multi-disciplinary team of competent people, including specialists, contractors, vendors, and suppliers when their particular knowledge, skills, experience, and behaviors (KSEB) are required;
- consider the findings of the risk assessment when deciding whether or how to go ahead with the change;
- put in place a rigorous design approval system to make sure that the appropriate standards are applied to the design. Any deviations from the design are to be approved by a competent, suitably qualified, and experienced person (SQEP) with sufficient KSEB;
- write formal procedures to implement the change, train all personnel who are directly affected by the change, and obtain confirmation that training has been effective;
- confirm the change has been communicated to all stakeholders and
- implement the change, monitor and review the assumptions after an agreed period, and confirm mitigations remain valid.