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Technical Writer wrote:
(about writer liability for supposed errors in documentation that the
writer somehow touched)
There is a move afoot in regulation of livestock farming to make the
livestock farmer liable, in the name of "food safety", for any illness
contracted by consumers of meat from the farmer's animals. The game is
to implement "farm to fork" traceability. (The slogan appears to be
chosen for its cute alliteration.) Traceability--documentation--is
substituted for the USDA slaughterhouse inspection previously used. As
far as I have been able to tell, the underlying purpose is to move the
liability for tainted meat from meatpackers (where the troubles usually
arise) back to the farmer.
A similar effort in the documentation business would likely take the
form of required certification or registration that has no actual
bearing on the quality of writing, but is put forth as a feel-good
"solution" to a perceived problem. You'll know it's happening for real
if you hear of non-certified writers being mentioned in a news story
about the crash of an airplane, of a railway train, or of a banking
system. You'll know you've bumped into it personally when you are asked
for (or suddenly receive in the mail) your Writer Certification Number
or WCN microchip.
See nonais.org for the situation in farming.
Comment number 9 at http://nonais.org/2008/09/01/bulletin-board-200809/
is interesting. Piles of mandated record keeping ("documentation") none
of which improves food safety but all with legal liability for the
farmer-writer.
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