RE: Warnings at front of document

["Claire Conant" <Claire -dot- Conant -at- Digeo -dot- com>]

Al Geist wrote:
This thread came at an opportune time as I'm currently reviewing a 
manual as part of a proposal for a Technical Writing contract for a 
local manufacturing company.  The review document has 23 pages of Safety

Information, with most of them actually testing procedures (such as 
testing the interlocks) versus warnings.  While there are legal reasons 
for some of the boilerplate in the front of this manual....23 pages 
seems a bit excessive.  Basically, it's like saying "Buy our product but

don't open the box.  Instead, store it in a warehouse far away from any 
life form forever.  Don't bother reading any further.  If you have a 
problem, call our Customer Service hotline.  Have a nice day."


Yes, that does seem excessive. One of our hardware manuals has four
pages of small print warnings. Some of the warnings appear to be
mandated by the FCC (since the manual is for a set-top box) and there is
a diagram of antenna grounding. Pretty typical I think for this sort of
guide. I vaguely recall questioning it myself when I first started here
but this thread is making me question it again. Inquiring minds want to
know: WHY? Do we really have to include all that stuff? 
Pretty much, though: What Al said. 
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