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.
Kevin wrote:
> The disclaimer book (as well as the instructions, sometimes) is obviously intended
> for many more products and models than just the one that I have purchased.
One thing that's beginning to change this practice--at least for
anything with moving parts--is the European Machinery Directive,
2006-42-EC. It's quite explicit about including specific content--not
just warnings--in the instructions, and about translating the full
instructions into ALL of the EC languages. So far, only the hoist and
tractor and industrial saw manufacturers seem to be complying, but the
regulation applies to ANYTHING with moving parts. Even the really big
companies don't seem to be complying yet , so I'm curious to see what
happens. For low-volume, inexpensive, yet complicated products,
compliance may well mean, "forget selling in Europe" if someone
decides to fully enforce the regulation. And for small businesses who
may not even have a full-time tech writer or regulatory compliance
expert, it looks especially dire. I foresee some variation of the
current practice taking hold (maybe a safety booklet for a family of
products, translated into French-Italian-German-Spanish), but I doubt
that generic boilerplate warnings will be enough.
Is anyone else here involved in Machinery Directive documentation?
--
Paul Goble
Omaha, Nebraska
pgcommunication -at- gmail -dot- com
www.pgcommunication.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days. http://www.doctohelp.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
