Re: Ethics in Technical Writing

[Lauren <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>]

Nice segue. So back to my questions. Do technical writer have an ethical 
duty to validate accuracy of instruction? Why are technical writing 
ethics never discussed?

There are many cases of defective instructions that lead to litigation 
in strict product liability claims. Sometimes, the documentation that 
accompanies a product lacks adequate warnings and sometimes the 
instructions are written in a way that leads to improper use. Grammar 
“corrections” that lead to a missing comma have resulted in many 
multi-million dollar claims. Changing a formula for calibration of 
sensitive equipment to correct the grammar in an instruction can lead to 
a misuse of a product that could result in damages.

It is unreasonable to assume that all technical writers have an equal 
sense of ethical duty to make certain that an instruction is accurate. 
So, in the general sense, do technical writers have an ethical duty to 
make sure an instruction is accurate? Or is the matter of accuracy a 
personal preference?

I think that this discussion is great for learning about how litigation 
may arise from defective instructions. I thought my legal education 
would lead me down a path to help people working in technical 
communications but now I think it may be better fodder for product 
liability litigation.


On 5/2/2017 8:50 AM, Gene Kim-Eng wrote: