TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
CE Safety Symbols/Verbage vs US Cautions/Warnings?
Subject:CE Safety Symbols/Verbage vs US Cautions/Warnings? From:Alexander Von_obert <avobert -at- TWH -dot- MSN -dot- SUB -dot- ORG> Date:Mon, 25 Dec 1995 12:36:00 +0100
Hello John,
* Antwort auf eine Nachricht von John Gabbert an All am 21.12.95
JG> From: John Gabbert <jgabbert -at- luminet -dot- net>
JG> In shifting our US-made product user documentation toward CE
JG> approval for
JG> European markets, we're sensing an apparent conflict between
JG> the CE symbol,
JG> the exclamation-point-in-a-triangle (defined in some places as
JG> "Caution,"
JG> and in others as "Warning") with the traditional bi-level
JG> Caution/Warning
JG> statements, with their precedence in US tort law.
From my point of view you cannot see a conflict between the two. Simply
because there definitely are NO consistant warning levels defined in European
standards. One author here in Germany even offers your ANSI standard as a
model
for manuals written over here.
But be warned about another effect: Generally you can expect to have a better
educated reader over here who quite likely has a much better social security
net than you are used to.
At least here in Germany about everyone has a health ensurance which would pay
any hospital stay outside of the job. On the job, the employer has to look out
for risks. To get a driver licence, you have to visit a special kind of
school and so on.
The bottom line: If you simply translate a typical American end user manual,
nobody will dare to use the product. Looking at all your warnings they would
consider your product extremely dangerous.
Some years ago I talked to a technical writer from Volkswagen. At that time
they did two versions of their end-user car manuals: One international version
that was translated into all other languages. And a north-american version.
Greetings from Germany
Alexander
--
|Fidonet: Alexander Von_obert 2:2490/1719
|Internet: avobert -at- twh -dot- msn -dot- sub -dot- org
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
| From TechWriter's Home, Nuernberg Germany
| phone 49+911+591530, FIDOnet 2:2490/1719
