Re: Is there a study on reading warnings, notes?

[voxwoman <voxwoman -at- gmail -dot- com>]

In one manual I was writing that error recovery step would be:

"Retrieve your finger(s) and call an ambulance immediately."

I became very zealous with my admonitions when I was documenting equipment
that could dismember, blind or decapitate the operator if the instructions
weren't followed. Especially after the successful lawsuit by the families of
the victims of a badly designed x-ray machine - the suit brought suit
separately against the company and the design engineer/programmer.

-Wendy

On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 4:35 PM, Leonard C. Porrello <
Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- soleratec -dot- com> wrote:

> I totally agree. There is also sometimes a third step. When users are
> likely to make a mistake (ignore a warning), documentation should
> include error recovery steps when possible.
>
> Leonard
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+leonard.porrello<techwr-l-bounces%2Bleonard.porrello>
> =soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- c
> om] On Behalf Of Lippincott, Richard
> Sent: Tuesday, November 04, 2008 1:23 PM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: RE: Is there a study on reading warnings, notes?
>
> Geoff Hart said:
>
> >We need to design documentation around that
>
> >principle... for example, by building warnings and cautions into the
>
> >steps rather than setting them aside.
>
>
>
> In my opinion, the approach has to be two fold: the procedural step has
> to tell you the safe way to do it, but an offset admonition has to
> explain the consequences. Offset in order to capture attention, offset
> so that it isn't missed.
>
>
>
> If I recall from yesterday's digest, Geoff gave an example that a
> procedure shouldn't just tell a person working with electrical
> components to avoid working in a wet area but instead provides the
> instructions to dry the work area. I agree, but I'd also add a big fat
> can't-miss-it admonition about the electric shock danger from wet
> surfaces.
>
>
>
> I can think right off the top of my head of a couple of aviation
> examples where the correct procedure didn't also include a warning of
> the consequences, and the result were literally a disaster.
>
>
>
> Probably the most famous is the American Airlines Flight 191 crash in
> Chicago, May 25, 1979. The DC-10 maintenance manuals clearly explained
> the correct procedure for engine removal (it involved buying some
> expensive equipment from McDonnell-Douglas), but apparently never
> explained why it was a very very bad idea to avoid the fairly common
> practice of using a forklift (cheaper and faster, and routine in the
> aviation industry).
>
>
>
> American Airlines chose to use the forklift. The result was a crash that
> killed 273 people.
>
>
>
> It's got to be a two-pronged approach. The steps should explain the
> right way to do the procedure, the safety admonition should explain what
> can go wrong if you don't.
>
> Rick Lippincott
> Technical Writer
> AS&E*
> American Science & Engineering
> 829 Middlesex Turnpike
> Billerica, MA  01821-3907
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>
>
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