RE: Another tragic case of not reading the manual

[eric -dot- dunn -at- ca -dot- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com]

Daniel_Hall -at- trendmicro -dot- com wrote on 08/14/2003 04:24:30 PM:

> Note that I'm only talking about this particular instance,
> and that nowhere did I say safety isn't a valuable goal in
> designing machinery or writing docs.

> If you read the post again, you'll see that I just said
> that in _this particular case_, where a worker entered
> what was essentially an oven, the majority of the blame in
> what happened is his. If you take that as a call for a
> return to a Dickensian serfdom for workers, you missed the point.

> I'm not questioning that safety is a Good Thing®. But
> where does most of the responsibility lie in this
> particular case? With the device manufacturer? The company
> owner? The head engineer? Or the guy who climbed into what
> is essentially an oven? You already know what I think. And
> "He was just following orders" went out as an excuse in 1945.

You missed my point. It may have been perfectly safe to work in the washer
for periods lasting 10, 15, 30 minutes. That worker was there for hours.

Each person also has a different tolerance level for heat. Look at the
number of people that are dying due to the heat wave in Europe.

Check out: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hsb/extremeheat/ for heat related
problems.
Or http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hsb/extremeheat/heatstroke.htm

No where is a temperature stated. I've personally passed out due to heat
exhaustion/heat stroke while bicycling in 25-30C temperatures. So
depending on your personal limits, the temperature, and the exertion you
put out there is no one dangerous level of heat (at least not until we
start talking about burning/scorching temperatures).

Eric L. Dunn
 Senior Technical Writer