Re: ISO Standard for Warnings?

["Wayne J. Douglass" <wayned -at- VERITY -dot- COM>]

At 02:47 PM 4/16/97 -0400, Tom Johnson wrote:
>Is anyone aware of any standards (ISO or otherwise) regarding warning
>terminology? Specifically, I'm wondering about using two different words
>to designate whether an action will damage a machine (economic loss) or
>whether it will injure or kill someone. The words that come to mind are
>warning, caution, danger, note, important.  How are these words related to
>increasing severity of conditions?
>
As usual, _Science and Technical Writing: A Manual of Style_, Philip Rubens,
ed., doesn't disappoint. The advice from page 452 is:

- Warning inform the reader of possible bodily injury if procedures are not
followed exactly,
- Cautions alert the reader to possible equipment damage if procedures are
not followed correctly, and
- Notes inform the reader wirher of a general rule for a procedure or of
exceptions to such a rule.

--Wayne Douglass

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