Has this happened to you? You’re assigned to write about a product or procedure that, done wrong, could result in someone being killed…and your experts refuse the see the danger. Creating the documentation becomes even more of a challenge.
It happened to me once. Today I can call it a case of misplaced confidence.
I had been assigned to write documentation for a new product. This product was supposed to be on the cutting-edge of the technology in our industry. The engineer in charge convinced our management that this new product was a sure-fire winner for our company and its bottom line.
I assembled the few engineering notes and drawings we had. I created a first draft, knowing that the documentation would have plenty of holes that had to be filled as the product was developed and tested. Filling those holes would be no big deal, or so I thought at the time.
But the technology on which our new product was based—all that information was in the engineer’s head. My assignment was to get him to share his knowledge. I set a meeting with him to ask my questions.
Trouble was, he was reluctant to share. In so doing he demonstrated the biggest lie in writing warnings.
“Oh, that’s OK,” he said, brushing me off. “The customer knows.”
Really?
The biggest lie when it comes to technical documentation is that the reader already knows. The old adage, “A-S-S-U-M-E makes an ASS of U and ME” is relevant, particularly when it comes to writing about safety-related issues.
It’s a given that a writer must first understand his or her topic before writing about it—if the writer doesn’t know, how is the reader expected to know? This situation becomes more compelling when the topics being described can seriously hurt, or possibly kill, someone.
Product liability lawsuits cost a company both its money and reputation. In the case I described, management had second thoughts about the new product, and decided not to proceed.
When preparing, reviewing, and testing the warnings in your documentation, ask yourself these questions:
- How could a prospective user, in his hurry to start using the equipment, overlook basic issues that could result in death or injury? Have you addressed these issues in your documentation?
- Could failure to perform a step, or series of steps, correctly—or at all—result in death or serious injury? Do your steps clearly explain and show the proper techniques for performing steps?
- Are there other factors that could prevent the equipment from being operated properly and safely? Have you identified them and addressed them in your documentation?
Consider and address these questions when preparing your warning messages.
