Re: Question about warning and caution icons

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Dick Margulis wondered: <<I landed a contract to do a user manual for  
a medical device to be used in operating rooms, ICUs, etc.>>

A word of caution: CYA. Make even more sure than usual that your  
contract specifies that the client is responsible for all errors in  
content. You don't want to be the guy blamed for any accidents that  
result from using the equipment.

<<The customer provided several pages of warnings and cautions for me  
to drop in at the beginning of the book, and our agreement is that  
they're responsible for them; I'll use them for reference so I can  
drop copies of individual warnings and cautions into the procedures  
where needed. I'm not involved in editing them.>>

Fair enough, but don't let that stop you from pointing out any  
problems. You're the communication expert, and if you spot a problem,  
they should listen to you. At a minimum, they should give you a  
written "shut up and leave the warnings to us" in response to your  
criticism.

<<At the suggestion of the company's EU distributor, they formatted  
warnings and cautions as follows: There is a run-in heading (either  
"Warning:" or "Caution:") in bold, followed by the text of the  
message.>>

That's pretty much all you need. An icon makes it stand out more, but  
isn't necessary if you use appropriate typographic cues (or even a  
box around the text) to make the warning stand out. Or (see below) if  
you take other appropriate precautions.

<<To the left of each such paragraph, rather than a standard triangle  
icon, there is a low-res, screened image of a typographic "fist" (or  
"index"), that is, a hand with its forefinger extended to the right.  
The same fist is used for both warnings and cautions.>>

I agree with you that this isn't particularly professional. I know  
there are standards for iconography, but you should look for ones  
established for medical equipment manufacturers. I don't know 'em,  
and can't recommend a source. Googling with the following search  
string turned up a batch of promising leads:
"medical equipment" warning icon standard

OSHA also has a publication that may prove interesting if nobody can  
provide an authoritative standard:
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/hazardcommunications/hc2inf2.html

<<1. Is there any argument you can think of for not suggesting the  
change?>>

Nope. But I would propose something even more radical: where  
possible, eliminate or minimize the need for the warnings in the  
first place. You still want to include a warning message (redundancy  
decreases the chance someone will miss a key warning), but the  
warning message should not be the only way to prevent a disaster.

Many warnings go unread because they're not part of the procedure,  
and you can minimize the risk of that particular problem by  
supplementing the warning with a procedural step. For example, if the  
warning says "unplug this device before sticking a screwdriver in the  
back", step 1 of the procedure should be "1. Unplug the power cord."  
The warning may still be "you're gonna die if you stick a screwdriver  
into the back without unplugging the machine", but step 1 should  
reinforce the warning.

In other cases, the need for a warning is symptomatic of a serious  
design flaw. For example, my frontloading washing machine and  
dishwasher won't start filling with water until a sensor detects that  
the door is closed. A warning that says "make sure the door is  
closed" won't help much because I don't know anyone other than a  
technical writer who ever read their washing machine manual. Better  
to design around the problem. I do recognize the fact that you can't  
necessarily influence the design, but it's ethical to at least try.  
Doubly so when the context is medical equipment, where lives are  
clearly at stake.
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Geoff Hart   ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca

(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)

www.geoff-hart.com

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