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Subject:Re: Caution and Warning usage in documentation From:Fred Wersan <wersan -at- ZEUS -dot- MA30 -dot- BULL -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 7 Jan 1994 14:28:35 EST
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From: Paul Brady 5797 <PBrady -at- CHIPCOM -dot- COM>
Subject: Caution and Warning usage in documentation
Hello everyone!
I have a question about the industry standard regarding the use of Cautions
and Warnings....
The following are the current definitions we use in our documentation for
cautions and warnings:
WARNING: Indicates that a condition may threaten personal safety.
CAUTION: Indicates that a condition may damage software or hardware.
Recently, however, I was told that this may not be ISO 9000 or UL compliant.
Is this true? Any comments are much appreciated!!
________________________________________________
Paul Brady
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We pretty much use the same definitions and we are an ISO 9000 certified site,
so either it's OK, or they didn't ask us about this detail. My understanding
of ISO is that they are not that specific. They require that you have standards
and procedures that are documented and reproducible, but they don`t (for the
most part) tell you what the specifics have to be.
However, this is one area where some industry standardization makes sense. You
would want any person picking up any documentation to know that when they see
Warning or Caution that it means the same thing. This allows them to respond
appropriately. In a situation that could threaten personal safety, you don't
want someone to have to stop and think whether they should be worried about
the equipment, themselves, or just the fears of an overly melodramatic writer.
They should just be able to respond.
-----------------------------------
Fred Wersan
Bull HN Informations Systems
MA30/872A
300 Concord Rd.
Billerica, Mass. 01821
508-294-2322
f -dot- wersan -at- bull -dot- com
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